


The Porn King of Charming, California

by Katie_Bee



Category: Sons of Anarchy
Genre: F/M, May/December Relationship, Porn with Feelings, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:34:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25456285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katie_Bee/pseuds/Katie_Bee
Summary: When his brothers are sentenced to 14 months in Stockton, Chib is tasked with making CaraCara a profitable business. What if he meets someone along the way?Note: If May/December is not your thing, don't read.
Relationships: Chibs Telford/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 35
Kudos: 76





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Universe: AU- Luanne is still alive, the guys are still sentenced to 14 months in Stockton.
> 
> Disclaimer: Didn't create SONS. Don't own it. Still find it odd that Disney, of all companies, now does... 
> 
> Author's Note: I love Chibs' character and wish we'd gotten to see more of him on the show. I've always wondered what happened to the members on the outside in the 14 months that the others were locked up and never found it necessary for Luanne to have died the way she did. Anyway, I've had this idea rattling around for a bit and thought I'd put it out there. 
> 
> Also, this my first time posting to the archive. I'm still learning about the formatting and you may see some edits and such being made (like adding this author's note) over time.

Chibs watched the shift change at CaraCara from the parking lot. If you’d told him six months ago that there would be a time when he was sick of thinking about pussy, he’d a laughed. But as he watched the final day girls head to their cars and the six or so girls scheduled to work the cams overnight head into the studio, he realized he was just sick of thinking about pussy.

A blonde whose name he’s not sure he ever knew smiled as she walked past. Chibs nodded but couldn’t bring himself to smile at the lass.

“Night Chibs,” Lyla called as she opened the door of her beater. She had wiped away the heavy makeup she wore in front of the camera and even in the setting sun Chibs could see how beautiful she was. Ope was a lucky man.

“Night, love, “ he said lifting a cigarette to his lips and lighting it. He breathed in deeply and held his breath until he was light headed then exhaled.

It had been six months since the guys went in. With eight months left on their bids, Chibs constantly felt like he was barely holding on to anything. The club, CaraCara, the garage, what little relationship he had with Kerrianne, even his sanity felt like it might slip away at any moment. He knew he wasn’t alone. He had his brothers. Opie and Kozik were pulling their weight at the garage, stepping up when Piney’s emphysema made it impossible for the old man to get out of bed let alone pick up a shift. Ope had even increased business, picking up three new mechanics and increasing their bike and classic car business. Quinn and the nomads were handling the gun runs up to Tacoma. The new prospects, Miles and Filthy Phil, were doing at least 15 repos a week.

“Thank God for the recession,” he thought, taking another drag and exhaling slowly.

That left Chibs with CaraCara. At first, he’d felt out of his depth. Yes, he loved pussy and porn. But what did he know about running a business? With so many brothers inside though, they’d needed to earn and earn straight. Besides Teller-Morrow, Jax’s porn studio was the only way to do so, so Chibs made it work. The monthly subscriptions were enough to cover Bobby’s alimony and child support. They added pay-by the minute cams which earned more than Chibs had ever thought. The day cam girls paid for Happy’s mother’s medication and construction on the expansion of the studio. The revenue from the night cam girls covered most of their mortgages. Everything else went to expenses and a little change went to everyone’s pocket. It wasn’t enough but they were getting through. Chibs was making sure of it.

He stubbed out the cigarette with the toe of his boot before heading up the steps. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see Sarah sitting on one of the couches waiting.

“Hi Chibs,” she said looking up from her phone. “Luanne’s in the back. My cousin’s talking to her about a job.”

He nodded and smiled at the girl. She was a new addition and he knew she kept busy on the cams most of the day. She was like most of the girls that came through. Skinny, blonde, and what most thought passed for beautiful. Chibs knew she’d been at Friday night parties more than a couple of times but he tried to avoid anyone from CaraCara. Don’t shit where you eat, he thought.

“Ah,” he said after a beat. “Well, I’ve got a meeting with Luanne, lass. I’ll try not to interrupt but see if I can hurry things up for us both,” he said and pointed to the offices.

“Thanks,” she smiled. Chibs headed down the hallway, past the makeshift bedrooms where the cam girls were working, towards Luanne’s office. He stopped a couple of times to turn out the lights in unused dressing rooms and to pick up a dildo that was on the floor. Cringing, he threw it on the nearby couch.

SAMCRO was now the controlling owner of CaraCara but Luanne couldn’t complain, knowing she’d been skimming off the top for years. Most business decisions had to be run by Chibs but he left Luanne to do most of the hiring.

He was about halfway down the hall when he heard a voice say forcefully, “I’m not a whore.”

Shite, this interview is going well, he thought as he picked up his step. Luanne wasn’t known for her patience and all he needed was the girl filing a police report for battery. He stopped just outside the doorway and leaned against the doorframe. From behind, he could definitely tell that what the girl said was definitely true. She had none of the looseness to her body that the CaraCara girls had. He could see from the mirror being Luanne’s desk that her arms were folded across her body. It was as if she was protecting herself. Chibs couldn’t help but shift on his feet, uncomfortable with how much it reminded him of Kerrianne. He cleared his throat hoping that maybe he could distract Luanne from losing her shit at the lass.

_____

“I’m not a whore.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Haley regretted them. This was a porn studio and she needed a job. The only reason Luanne Delaney was paying her any attention was because Haley’s cousin Sarah had asked her too. Haley knew it. So did Luanne. Before she could say anything though, someone from behind her cleared their throat.

When she looked over her should she saw the same man she’s seen when she entered the building. From the kutte, she knew he was a Son, it was the scars. She wasn’t sure how a man got scars like that but she was positive she didn’t want to find out.

“Hey Luanne,” he said. “Lass,” he nodded at her as well. “All the day girls except Sarah have gone for the night.” Luanna nodded.

“Ms. Stick up her ass was just leaving.” From behind her, she heard the man let out a low chuckle. Somewhere in the warehouse, someone let out a long moan. Haley squirmed before turning back to Luanne.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that,” Haley said. “I didn’t mean it.” The older woman just shook her head. She did. Luanne knew it.

“You willing to show your tits on camera?” Haley tried to imagine a scenario where she would feel comfortable taking off her shirt anywhere but her bedroom and her face got red. “Modeling?” Haley shook her head again. Who would want to pay to see her? Sarah was the knock out in the family.

“I can clean. I can be your assistant—“ “Sweetie, my assistant watched another girl take it in the ass with a dildo the size of my arm today and you’re blushing at the thought of showing someone your tits. Are you even legal?” Luanne was smiling at her now. Haley knew that smile. It was the smile of girls at school who thought they were better than her. The ones who stopped talking to her when she got pregnant. The ones who didn’t even bother to whisper as soon as she turned her back.

“I’m eighteen,” Haley said, standing straighter. Her mother always said you should stand straight if you wanted people to take you seriously. Haley didn’t think her mother had meant the porn queen of Charming when she said that, but hell, Haley had bills to pay and her mother hadn’t talked to her in over a year. Not since before Haley had Noah.

“Then get a job at the diner on main. Or the grocery store. Or hell, anywhere else. Why do you want to work here?”

“Sarah says you pay well,” Haley said. “I got a kid. I need to feed him.”

Luanne stared. It was obvious she hadn’t been expecting that.

“I’m not running a charity,” the woman finally said. “My girls earn that money. Come back when you’re willing to show skin.” Haley nodded. She turned towards the door, staring at the floor. She couldn’t bring herself to look the man who watched her humiliation in the eye.

___

He didn’t know what made him do it but before she brushed past, he said, “SAMCRO is looking for a bartender for Friday nights.” Luanne stared. He shrugged at the woman.

“$200 for six hours,” he said. The girl finally looked in him the face. She was young. Eighteen was just three years older than his daughter.

“I don’t know how-“ she said.

“No experience necessary, our prospect will train you,” he said, trying to entice her. Haley stared.

“Ok.” She may be scared of him but she needed the money.

“You need the address?” Chibs asked, smiling slightly.

“No one needs your address,” Haley replied. She watched at the smile on his face got wider. She could see now that he was handsome despite the scars.

“What do I need to wear?”

From behind her Luanne’s voice had the mean girl tone, “I’ll send Sarah home with the uniform tomorrow” The woman’s tone left no doubt that that whatever it was would be as revealing as possible. Both Luanne and Chibs waited till Haley had left before saying anything.

“What the hell was that?” Luanne asked. “I was going to have Sarah and Heather cover the bar.”

“For free,” she added when Chibs shrugged.

“Felt bad for the lass,” he said sitting down in front of the desk and pulling the ledger towards him do he didn’t see her roll her eyes at him. He didn’t owe Luanne an explanation.

“Fine, but I’m putting the bitch in the hot pants so small she’s going to get a yeast infection.”

Chibs cringed.

“How’s the pussy machine doing?” he asked, nodding to laptop she has open, that he knew was open to the page counting page hits and dollars.

“We need to get another Saffron Sisters going. I was thinking, Aladdin meets anal. I want to do a new dirty teacher video too. Maybe have Maggie as the catholic school girl and Kyle as the priest, thought Marcus has the bigger dick. He’s films better too. Did you see that Georgie—"

Chibs stared at the numbers, trying to make sense of them. Never, he thought, did he want to think about pussy this much again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chibs and Haley meet again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Didn't create SONS. Don't own it. Still find it odd that Disney, of all companies, now does... 
> 
> Here's Chapter 2. I don't think Chapter 3 will take as long. I've got a bit done already. This is really a writing exercise for me so I won't be following a schedule but I'll try to post at least three times a month until it's done. Let me know your thoughts!

Chibs watched Chucky as sorted through the bills from the garage’s till. The other man made stacks of ones, fives, tens, twenties, and fifties so fast it was a little dizzying. Chibs closed his eyes and waited for the throbbing to pass. Ever since the fucking car bomb he’d been dealing with headaches whenever he got tired. Right now, he was fucking exhausted.  
When he opened his eyes again Chucky was still sorting. Even though the other man’s prosthetic fingers were the size of sausages, his hands made quick stacks. It was at times like this that Chibs couldn’t help but wonder if Chucky could do more with his hands than he let on but Chibs never asked. He wasn’t sure he really want to know.

“Alright, Chucky?”

The strange little man had grown on everyone and was now a staple in the clubhouse. Chibs couldn’t imagine not having him pouring the morning coffee or helping customers find keys at the end of the day. Anyway, Bobby was right. Keeping two sets of books was twice the risk but with Putlova and the Russians stealing their gun business, they’d had to make up for it somewhere. Chucky made that happen.

“Yuppers,” the man said as he counted each stack. “$883 in cash,” he said as he wrote the total down in a small black notebook that Chibs kept on him at all times. “$3,226 in direct deposits and two repos. Business has been good lately.” 

“Aye, thank fucking god for that,” Chibs said. Chucky started to sort each stack of bills into two piles. It was like watching a him dealing cards. “One for me and two for you,” he giggled. When he was done, he pushed the larger stack towards Chibs and recounted the smaller stack, making a note of the total in the ledger they kept in the office and putting the money in a bank bag that Filthy Phil would drop off at Charming Savings and Loan. 

“Come over tomorrow and finish payroll at CaraCara,” Chibs said as he tucked the remaining cash into his kutte. “Luanne started it but got called away. You staying tonight? We can get you” Chibs motioned to the top of the desk, “a reward for all your hard work for us.” 

“No, no,” Chucky said. “No need, as long as I have the Saffron sisters, I’m a happy man.”

“Don’t let Opie hear you say that,” Chibs said as the newest prospect, Miles opened the door. 

“There’s a girl looking for you,” the prospect said. “Says she’s here to tend bar?” 

“Shite, I forgot,” Chibs said. It had been almost a week since he’d walked into the diasterou interview in Luanne’s office. “She’s a cousin of one of Luanne’s girls. Doing her a favor- we’re gonna need it when Tacoma gets here.”

The other charter was supposed to arrive soon and stay over until morning, taking back the latest shipment up the coast. Gemma had spent the day ordering Filthy Phil, Miles, and the sweetbutts around getting ready. The clubhouse was cleaner than it had been in months though Chibs didn’t see the need. Wheels was supposed to be coming down from Portland with Tacoma. 

Wheels was worse then Tig; the man was known for his fondness of eating pie filling of any willing participant. Worse, he had a stripper from the Jellybean that was always willing to give into his fantasy. Chibs didn’t think the woman was usually at Friday night parties but he wasn’t sure. He tried not to look at her. She made him slight nauseous. 

“Night Chucky,” Chibs said leaving the office and following Miles.

“So, uh the girl,” Miles said leaving no doubt in Chibs mind that he was digging for info on the lass.

“Just a lass, boyo. Keep your hands to yourself. Tell Phil to do the same,” Chibs said. 

“You’re gonna have a hard time keeping hands off her in that outfit,” Mile said with a laugh that made Chibs what the hell Luanne did now. 

“Jaysus,” he said, stopping right inside the clubhouse door. 

“I know,” Miles said appreciatively. Chibs glared at the young man. “Go help Phil with the fires,” Chibs growled, shoving him back out the door.

The girl standing next to the bar barely looked like the girl he’d seen in Luanne’s office. Her long dark hair had been pulled up into a ponytail. It was obvious that Sarah or one of the other girls had done her make up. She looked like she’d fit in on the CaraCara set or on a corner in Oakland. The fishnets and boy shorts left little to imagination.

Piney and Opie were sitting at the bar openly staring. Chibs could see Piney’s eyes were firmly on the place where the girl’s fishnet stockings met her boy shorts. Opie, however, was nursing a Miller Lite and looking at her like she was a puzzle he was trying to figure out. 

***

“Just try and be everything you’re not.”

That’s what Sarah said to her as left the apartment. It made Haley stop in her tracks and wonder what she was doing. She knew her cousin didn’t mean anything mean by it. Sarah wasn’t mean, just blunt. Just try to be everything you’re not. What was that? Pretty or a but-her-face? Whore or a prude? She’d heard it all before. She thought by now she’d stop caring but Haley spent a lot of time wondering just how most people saw her. Even her cousin who had known her since she was a baby.

She didn’t have to wonder about the old man in front of her though. She was positive despite the fact that he was on oxygen and was probably as old as her grandfather, he liked what he saw.

Fucking Luanne Delaney. That’s why Haley was standing in front of this man in boyshorts, fishnets, and a hoodie that was covering a bedazzled bra that weighed a good fifteen pounds. She heard the door open behind her and she turned to find the man she met at CaraCara. Sarah had said his name was Chibs. What kind of name was Chibs?! 

“I see you got Luanne’s, uh, uniform,” he said, rather stupidly, Haley thought. Haley heard the woman behind the bar snort. 

“I think you mean her payback,” Haley said. She unzipped the hoodie and pulled the jacket apart so he could see the full effect. Haley watched as his eyes travelled down her body and then back up to her chest. 

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” 

Haley didn’t know what made her say it. The same instinct that made her tell Luanne that she wasn’t a whore she guessed. It was not a instinct that was going to keep her a job.

“Sorry, lass,” he said but from his smile Haley knew he not in the least embarrassed that he got caught staring. “Not everyday I see an absolute fucking perfect pair of tits.” 

She knew this wasn’t true. According to Sarah, this man saw tits day in and day out. 

“Do I really have to wear this?” she asked. “Or is it just the Porn Queen fucking with me?” 

“Well, you did piss her off lass,” he said with a laugh. “And if I give you something else, I’ll have a six-inch heel in my ass.,” he said. 

“We didn’t do introductions. I’m Chibs. This is Opie, Piney,” he said pointing to each man at the bar. “Maybe, you know Lyla?”

Haley didn’t know Lyla but she’d heard about her from Sarah. From the rumor going around CaraCara, there would be one less Saffron sister on screen when the porn star married the biker. Sarah wanted to her place. Haley shook her head but tried to smile at them all. She knew it probably looked more like a grimiace. 

“Haley.”

“Sarah’s cousin, right?” Lyla asked. The blonde woman was smiling softly. 

“Yeah,” Haley didn’t want to know what rumors had been swirling around CaraCara about her. Luanne was not someone you pissed off.

“Lyla, you think you can show her where everything is behind the bar?” Chibs asked. “Haley’s gonna help Miles and Filthy Phil tonight.”

“Sure,” the woman said. “Come into the kitchen, I’ll show you everything in there first.”

Haley nodded and looked back at the three men nervously.

“Go’on lass I’ll find you at the end of the night any pay you,” Chibs said encouragingly. Not for the first time Haley wondered why the man had even offered to pay her to bar tend in the first place. She knew Sarah or some of the other girls often filled in for nothing. 

She turned back to the skinny blonde woman and followed her into the kitchen. Before she could stop herself the words were out of her mouth, “Why do they call him Filthy Phil?” 

***

It was hours before Chibs could check on Haley again. When Tacoma pulled in they’d held church with the seated members of the charter, going over the details of tomorrow’s pick up and delivery while the party got started outside. As soon as they were out, he’d gotten pulled into a game of pool with Lorca. 

Any time he looked over at the bar though, she seemed to be holding her own. Pulling beers, pouring shots all while trying not to make eye contact with anybody. Even so, she never quite looked the part. When she thought no one was looking she’d adjust the strap to the bra or pull at her shorts.

He appreciated that Miles and Filthy Phil had taken him seriously about watching out for her. The two men had taken up their place on either side of the girl while they worked. It made it harder for any of his brothers to sidle up to her and try to take her to one of the empty dorms. 

It was almost midnight when he approached the bar and help up two fingers and an empty bottle. The music was loud and it was hard to hear. When she came back with the cold bottles he motioned for her to come closer. He tried not to stare at the creamy skin of her breasts as she leaned over the bar. He hadn’t been lying to her when he said she had perfect tits.

“How’s it going love?” he asked in her ear. She gave a small smile and shrugged. “Almost over. Give ‘em another hour or so they’ll start passing out.” 

She nodded and started to take a step back when her eyes went wide. Chibs thought he knew why. The music has changed suddenly and the opening notes of Cherry Pie were suddenly blaring. 

Sure enough, when he turned around Wheels’ lady friend and a regularly Friday night girl were sitting on the pool table, chests covered in a sticky red substance. Wheels was motor boating his head between two enormous bare breasts. All around him his brothers started cheering. 

Chibs cringed and turned back to the girl. Her cheeks were bright red and Chibs couldn’t help but notice that the flush made it all the way to her chest. He laughed loudly at the disgusted look on her face. He motioned her back towards him and said in her ear, “I’ll be outside. Come on out if it gets to be too much.”

The night air was a relief from the smoke of the clubhouse. Immediately the pressure that had been building in his head released a bit as he took a long breath. He walked over to the picnic tables where Gemma was sitting across from Opie and Luanne. 

“Who’s the jailbait at the bar?” Gemma asked when he handed her one of the beers Haley had given him. 

“And why did she say Luanne wanted revenge ealier?” Opie asked, taking a sip of the beer. 

“She’s one of Luanne’s girl’s cousin. Doin her a favor by letting her bartend for the night. Told her I’d give her a couple hundred for it.” He could hear the crowd get louder inside and he wondered how bad it’d gotten. 

“We’re taking in strays?” Gemma asked, sitting down her beer and staring at him. 

“She asked Luanne for a job,” Lyla said, “then told Luanne she’d not a whore.”

“Fucking stupid gash,” Gemma laughed but Chibs noticed that it didn’t seem to reach her eyes. “And she’s still got all her teeth?” 

“Sarah her cousin is one our top cam girls,” Lyla laughed. “She probably didn’t want to piss her off. Especially after that shit with Ima.” 

Chibs rolled his eyes. Last month, Ima hadn’t shown up for the last three days after Luanne had refused to hire one of her junkie friends. The bitch had been covered in track marks. Luanne hated junkies. 

“Can you got get me another beer?” Opie asked Lyla. 

“Sure,” the blonde smiled sweetly, taking the empty. As soon as she was back inside the other man asked what Chibs really wanted to know.

“How you doing, Ma?” They both watched as the woman took a sip of her beer.

“Been better,” she finally said. “But I’ve been worse too.”

Between the Irish and CaraCara, and Gemma being busy with Tara and the boys, Chibs almost never saw Gemma these days, unless Clay passed on a message through her or Rosen. The woman looked tired. There were bags under her eyes that weren’t normally there. Chibs couldn’t help but wonder how much she was sleeping. Probably not much more than you, he thought.

“I’m gonna go home,” she said after a few minutes. “Tara’s got an early shift and I told her I’d watch the boys until Neeta gets there.”

She kissed both men on the head before heading to her car.

“How much more of this you think we can take?” Opie asked, watching her pull out.

Chibs didn’t bother with an answer. At that moment, Lyla came back out, Haley following quickly. Chibs watched as she stuffed her arms in her hoodie and zipped it.  
Lyla handed Opie the beer. “I’m going to get my purse so we can leave soon. Night, Haley.”

Haley nodded but didn’t say anything. 

Chibs pulled out his wallet and counted pulled out five fifty dollar bills. Before he handed them to her he asked something that he’d been wondering ever since she’d said something Luanne’s revenge.

“So if Luanne is the Porn Queen, what does that make me?” he asked.

“The Porn King?” her voice getting high as she said it, like it was a question. From behind them, Chibs heard Opie snort. Just what I need is for the brothers to hear that, he thought as he handed her the money.

“This is more than you said,” she handed back the last fifty. 

“It’s tip,” Chibs said. 

“I don’t need charity,” she said. Chibs noticed that she stood a little taller than she said that. 

“No, but you didn’t get the job with Luanne, so here’s something else to help,” Chibs heard Opie suck his teeth and knew he’d said the wrong thing and he started to back track. “Consider it hazard pay. Nobody should have to watch Wheels and the…” he motioned to his own chest. She didn’t say anything but she did take the money back. 

“Night lass,” he said. “We don’t need someone for the next few weekends but I’ll let Sarah know when we do.” 

She nodded and headed to her car. When he sat back down at the table, Chibs could feel a tension that hadn’t been in his brother five minutes before. 

“You okay, brother?” he asked. Opie was turning a cigarette over and over in his large hands before he sticking it in his mouth and lighting it. 

“She reminded me Donna,” he said finally, exhaling. “Never wanted help. Always thought of it as a hand out.” He stopped talking for a minute when one of the Tacoma brother’s Chibs didn’t really know walked by with a croweater, looking for dark corner on the lot to get lost in. 

“It’s been almost two years and sometimes I still wake up at night and reach over for her and find fucking Lyla instead,” he finished.  
Chibs didn’t say anything. He knew the feeling. It had taken a long time to forget the feeling of Fiona sleeping next to him. To waking up and realizing that he was in fucking California and not Ireland. Even now that Jimmy O was gone, it hadn’t really changed anything. 

Lyla was back. “I’m gonna head home…” she trailed off because behind them a car was struggling to start. 

“Are one of you going to help her or just let her kill her engine?” Lyla asked. 

“You’re up Porn King,” Opie said and Lyla laughed. No one was ever going to let him live that down.

Chibs waved them off and walked up the piece of shit Crown Vic that had to be at least fifteen years older than the girl herself. He knocked on the window. 

“You can keep trying lass but it’s not going anywhere tonight,” he said when she rolled down the window. “I’ll give you a ride home.” 

***

Haley had never been on a motorcycle and she pretty sure she never would again. She could feel Chibs laughing at how hard she was holding on but she couldn’t help it. There was nothing between her and the ground when they were going 30 mph.

They were stopped at a stop sign on the corner of Main and Copeland. She pointed to the right and he turned. She’d been guiding him silently since they left the lot at Teller-Morrow. If there was one thing she was happy with how the night seemed to end is that she didn’t have to open her mouth and insert her foot on the way home. She felt like she’d been doing that all night. 

She pointed up ahead to the Charming Oaks apartments. There was nothing actually charming about the old apartment development. The management company didn’t do shit but collect rent and evict people. But it was cheap and Haley could barely afford the rent. 

She motioned to the back building. Even from where she sat behind Chibs she could see a familiar figure standing outside her second floor apartment. 

“Chibs!” Sarah called when they’d parked and Chibs turned off the bike. Haley watched has her cousin slid her arms along the railing and pushed out her chest, clearly inviting. “Come up for a beer!” She yelled not even bother lowering her voice despite it being 1:30 am.

Great, Haley thought, she’s drunk. My neighbors must love me. She didn’t really think her neighbors gave a shit though since they spent most of their time arguing over whether the husband, Hector, was fucking his wife’s cousin. Haley knew because they had the same argument nightly and the walls were thin. 

As soon as Chibs had the kickstand down, Haley was off the bike. Even though it had only been a mile or so, her legs felt like jelly. She tumbled a bit trying to get used to the feeling off her feet being back on the ground.

“Whoa, lass,” the man said, offering her his arm. 

“Chibsy!” Sarah yelled again and Haley wondered if that was something the girls around CaraCara actually called him or if it was because Sarah was drunk.

“Chibsy?” she asked, handing over his helmet. He laughed awkwardly and looked embarrassed. They both looked up at Sarah.

“I’ll make it worth your while,” the blonde called down, shaking her hips seductively. 

Haley looked at the man in front of her. It was hard for her not to compare him to her father. Haley didn’t know many men over the age of 40 who weren’t either her dad, or her old teachers and coaches from school. This man though didn’t look like anyone from her life. He had to be as old as her father, maybe older. His dark hair had streaks of gray hair. As soon as her dad went gray.  
He’d completely shaved his head to avoid looking at it but this man owned it. She shifted a little. It felt strange comparing this man to her father. She watched as he pushed his hair back from his face and looked up at Sarah. Haley could tell that he didn’t want to play Sarah’s game.

“Just come up, have a drink. She’s gonna wake up half the complex, including Noah, if you don’t,” she said. When he looked at her, she could see lines around his eyes that Haley was sure her father would never have. She wondered if they were a mark of how much the man had seen in his lifetime. 

“Aye,” he said, standing and swinging his leg over the bike. Sarah cheered. 

“Alright, lass,” he called up to her and Haley knew he was trying to get her to shut up. They were halfway up the stair before Haley realized that he must have a perfect view of her ass and she couldn’t stop herself from pulling down at the bottom of the hoodie. She heard him chuckle behind her. 

The apartment was a shit hole. Haley knew it. She hated having people come in and see it. There were moisture stains on the ceiling from when it rained too hard and the linoleum in the kitchen and bathroom had been since before Haley’s mother was born. She tried not to watch as Chibs looked around and judged the place. 

“Fuck, Sarah. I told you not to let him fall asleep on the bed,” she said, seeing Noah on the bed. She left Chibs and Sarah standing in the kitchen so she could check on him. He was out like a light. Haley couldn’t stop herself from running her hand through his dirty blonde hair. It was the same color as his father’s hair. She hoped beyond hope it would darken soon. She didn’t need that memory every time she looked at him. 

Behind her, she heard the fridge open and clink of glass on the table. She looked back to see Chibs sitting at the kitchen table, watching her while Sarah stood behind him, massaged his shoulders. She saw him closed his eyes. For a second she wondered what it would be like to be the one standing behind him but then saw Sarah’s hand snake down the front of his kutte and the thought was gone.

“I’m gonna change,” she said, gathering her clothes and ignoring the two in the kitchen. She needed to get them out as soon as possible. She wanted to go to fucking bed. 

***  
When Chibs opened his eyes, it was to see Haley disappearing into the fucking bathroom and Sarah’s hand just above his belt. 

He gently grabbed Sarah’s hand and stopped it. This happened a lot these days. The CaraCara girls pushing up on him. Luanne said it was that they wanted to take care of him but Chibs wasn’t interested. Never mix business with pleasure was another of Bobby’s shitty sayings. One that Chibs knew Bobby had broken himself with Luanne but Chibs was sticking with this one. Too much drama at CaraCara on a good day. 

“Not tonight lass,” he said, trying to let her down easy. And definitely not in the apartment as a sleeping babe, he thought. Chibs looked over at the boy on the bed. He looked younger than Abel but what did Chibs know. It’s been so long since Kerrianne was that young. The lad let out a small cry and Chibs thought this would distract Sarah but she just started massaging Chibs shoulders again.

“He’s just fussy,” Sarah said. “She’ll get him.” 

Christ, it felt good, he thought. But he didn’t let his eyes close again until he heard the bathroom door open and saw Haley pick the babe up.

When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to find Haley sitting across the table from him, silently watching Sarah, her son cradled in her arms. He smiled at her and for the first time that night, she smiled back.

He took a pull of beer and watched as Haley rocked the boy. He felt Sarah lean down and place a kiss on his cheek. He felt her tongue gently trace one of his scars and knew it was time for him to go. When he looked across the table, he noticed Haley wasn’t watching anymore, instead she was staring down at the sleeping boy in her arms. 

“I should be heading out lasses,” he said finally. “Sarah you okay to get home?” he asked. He knew the girl lived on the other side of town with a couple of the CaraCara girls in a house. With a yard, he thought. He couldn’t help but wonder how the older girl left her younger cousin and a babe to live here. 

“You could take me home,” she said sitting down on his lap and smiling suggestively. 

“Maybe some other time.” He waited to see if she’d stand up on her own but she just stuck out her lip, pouting. Why the fuck did they all pout? Realizing she was too drunk to get the message he slapped her ass, a little harder than necessary, but it go her up. 

“Walk me out, Haley,” he said. He hated it doing it since she had her boy in her arms but he wasn’t leaving room for Sarah to do so. He was getting sick of the other girl’s shit. 

He waited while she laid the babe down in a crib in the corner then followed her out. “I’ll look at the car first thing in the morning,” he told her once she’d closed the door. Here in the walkway he could hear voices arguing in another apartment and a television playing loudly. 

He watched as she started to take the money he’d paid her with earlier out of the pocket of the hoodie. 

“No,” he said quickly. He wasn’t about to take the money she obviously needed. “Sounded like it’s just a loose belt. An easy fix. It’ll take me less than an hour. Just call the shop and they’ll let you know when to pick it up.”

“Thanks,” she said but she looked unsure. He had a feeling she knew he was lying. She surprised him thought when she stood on her toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He couldn’t help wonder if she’d wanted to or if she was following Sarah’s example. He pulled away and smiled stiffly.

“Night,” she said. He nodded. He waited until she was back in the apartment before he left. He was halfway down the stairs when he heard something break under his boot. Even in the shitty lighting he could make out what remained of the vial. He looked around. Another vial was on the stair below.

Just fucking great, he thought as he got on his bike. He’d known it was enviable with all the guys in Stockton and with him and Ope being pulled in fifty fucking directions. He took the pre-paid out of kutte and called Kozik. 

“Church in the morning, after the pick up,” he said when the other man finally picked up. 

“What’s up, brother?” 

“Some stupid shite is dealing in Charming.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haley and Chibs meet again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Didn't create SONS. Don't own it. Still find it odd that Disney, of all companies, now does...

A week later

Haley heard them laugh before she saw them. It was not the laughter that came from actual joy but the kind that came from feeling like you were better than someone. Haley thought that was what high school really taught you. Not English, nor Trigonometry, nor Chemistry. It was when to know someone was laughing at you. 

She looked towards the front door of Charming Grocers to see four girls that had been a couple years behind her at Charming High School. They were the type of girls that would have never talked to her before she got pregnant but they sure did talk shit about her afterwards. And when it got around the who she’d told Hannah, the girl she thought was her best friend, who the father was, these were the girls who closed ranks around the running back of the football team and told everyone she was lying. After all, who would sleep with her.

Haley rolled her eyes. She looked at a fifth girl who was standing next to them. Tristan Oswald. Now, this surprised Haley. When she still went, there was not a Sunday in Haley’s memory that she hadn’t seen the Oswalds at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. She raised her eyebrow at Tristern before reaching into the back of the car to get her son. More giggles. 

She tried to ignore them as she leaned into the backseat and unbuckled Noah’s seat belt. He’d been fussy ever since she picked him up from daycare. Haley hoped he wasn’t getting an ear infection again. The last time the doctor said they’d have to put tubes in a second time. Haley knew the state insurance would cover it but she didn’t have the money for the co-pay. She shifted Noah to her hip and was about to close the car door when she dropped her purse. The giggling burst into outright laughter. Haley felt her face go red.

“I go’ it, lassie,” a voice said from behind her. She didn’t have to turn to know it was Chibs. When she she did she was struck by how tired the man seemed. The lines under his eye had seemed to multiply. Or she thought, maybe it was just because it was the first time she was seeing him in the light of day. 

“Friends o’ yours?” he asked, nodding towards the other teens. 

“I don’t have friends,” Haley said. Foot meet mouth, she thought before it was even out of her mouth.

It was true. The girls she’d thought of her friends had abandoned her the second they realized she was pregnant. She known most of them since kindergarten. She’d held Jamie’s hand while she cried over her parent’s divorce, she’d helped Hannah master Claire de Lune on her mother’s piano, she’d even helped Margo practice the routine that got her on the dance team, and she’d helped all of them study when they fell behind in their classes. But they’d left her to walk from class to class alone as people stared openly at her stomach. She ate alone in the cafeteria for three months before she was pulled from school due to preeclampsia. Not one of them ever came to see her while she was on bed rest or in the hospital.

But Haley still wished she hadn’t said it. It was an embarrassing thing to admit out loud. She always said the stupidest shit around this man. He made her nervous even though he’d been nothing but kind to her. Haley wasn’t sure if it was because he was Samcro or just because he was a man. She didn’t really know anything about men if she was honest.

She looked over her shoulder. The girls were no longer giggling but whispering behind their hands. No doubt they were making up rumors to spread about why the former Charming High newspaper editor was talking to Samcro. When she looked back at him, he had an expectant look on his face but she had no idea what she was supposed to be doing. Chibs must have realized cause after a moment of silence he laughed.

“Aren’t ye going to introduce me?” He said motioning towards Noah who was hiding his face in her neck. 

“Oh?” she said, “this is Noah.” She didn’t know why the man cared. 

“Hello, wee laddie,” Chibs said, leaning closer and ducking his head to see if Noah would look up at him. Haley rubbed her son’s back encouragingly but he didn’t move.

“A shy one, eh?” he asked. Haley nodded. It worried her incessantly. She wasn’t sure if was just his personality or because he met so few people outside of daycare. 

“Hey, sweet boy,” she whispered in his hair. “Meet Mr. Chibs” 

The boy finally looked at Chibs and smiled softly. Then the biker then did something that made Haley laugh out load— he sucked in his cheeks and made a face like a fish. Noah let out a giggle too.

“Can’t be more than 18 months, right?” the man asked, looking her in her eyes. She looked down at Noah.

“He’s 17 months,” she said. “Do you have kids?” she asked looking back up but no able to look him in the eyes again. She tried to imagine this man having small children but it wasn’t something she could easily see. He looked so rough around the edges that he couldn’t imagine him carefully holding a babe to his chest. She looked away again when she realized she was picturing the man with his shirt off.

She heard the man let a out a laugh and looked back at him. Despite the scars, he had a nice smile. “My daughter’s thirteen but she lives in Ireland. One of my brothers has a laddie about his age though. Reminds me of all of it. The shite, the nappies, the waking up so often that ye never sure ye actually got to sleep.”

Haley nodded. She knew. 

“Well, I’ve got to get going,” she said, motioning to Charming Grocers and hoping to get away before she something else that was embaressing. It was already after six and she needed to get done and get Noah fed and into bed by 7:30. He motioned with his arm for her to go ahead of him. 

Of course, she thought, why else would he be at the grocery store but to get groceries? 

It wasn’t until she turned around that she remembered the girls. She shifted Noah to the hip furthest away from the girls and walked past, not making eye contact. 

“Whore,” she heard one of them say before they collapsed into giggles again. Haley didn’t say anything, just grabbed a grocery basket and put Noah in the front of the cart.

Chibs watched as the shortest of the blond gashes by the door gathered up the courage to say something to Haley and knew before she even opened her mouth that the words would land. He watched as Haley’s shoulders flinched but he admired how she didn’t look back but kept going.

Chibs glared at the girls as he passed, not giving a shite that he was a forty-three year old man glaring at a bunch of children. When he walked into the store, Haley was nowhere to be seen so he grabbed a basket and walked around, grabbing groceries as he went.

He was slowly moving around the store. The last week had been shite. One of the cam girls hadn’t passed her STD test sending a CaraCara shoot into mayhem at the last minute. Her filming partner, a girl Chanel, had refused to work without her and while Luanne tried the diplomatic route, Chibs had lost his patience. Luckily, Sarah stepped up and one of the other girls, a big-breasted redhead who also worked the cams filled in. 

Luanne was pissed with him for pissing off Chanel but he didn’t care. The girl was a little Ima in the making if they didn’t watch her. Ima herself was late to her own shoot and now, because of all the shite, they were a day behind on their shooting schedule. 

Worst still was that club had made no headway into finding who dealing at Charming Oaks. They’d sent Miles in as a new maintenance man. No one would give him a name but he’d been able to confirm with a couple of junkie that if he came back at night, he’d be able to score. Only when he went back he didn’t see shite. Chibs had made Kozik go with him the night before to make sure the boy wasn’t just stupid or blind but there hadn’t been any dealer. 

“Maybe no one’s dealing,” Quinn had said at Church this morning. The nomad had rode back after the last run to help out in Charming for a bit. Tacoma was sending a few boys down in the next couple of weeks too.

“That place is full of junkies,” Kozik said. It went without saying that he should know. His brother had waited till the other brothers had left before he said anything. “Saw that girl Haley with her baby. You sure she’s clean?”

Chibs nodded. He didn’t know the hen but given that she could barely look him in the eye and she blushed so easily, he couldn’t see the girl doing drugs. Not yet anyway, he thought. Maybe a couple more years of living in that shite hole she would be.

“Luanne won’t hire her?” Kozik asked. He looked uncomfortable even asking. But Chibs knew he had a little sister not too much older than the girl and a couple of nieces he still went up to Tacoma to see every few months.

“Lassie won’t take off her clothes, ” Chibs finally said. Kozik nodded but Chibs could tell he was still thinking about it when he got up and left. 

Chibs shook his head when he realized he was caught up in the memory of this morning and had been staring at the cases of beer far too long. A woman wearing scrubs to his left was watching him, obviously concerned. He grabbed a 12- pack of Guinness and headed towards the other end of the store to the meat counter to pick up a couple steaks. 

He finally saw Haley again staring at packs of ground beef. There was no mistaking the hunger on her face but he watched as she pushed the cart away without grabbing any. It reminded him of being a laddie in Scotland and being hungry enough to steal cans of beans from the grocers. He grabbed a pack of beef and put it in his basket and headed towards the cashiers.

By the time Haley was walking out of the store ten minutes later, he’d put the beer and the steaks in the saddle bags of his bike and was leaning against her car. He quickly put the cigarette he’d been smoking our with the heel of his boot and watched as she threw a quick glance over her shoulder to where the girls had been standing. 

“They’re gone lassie,” he said. He’d made sure of it, glaring at him until they’d taken off with uneasy looks on their faces. He was sure he’d be hearing from Unser for scaring the brats but it as worth it he thought, when he saw her shoulders relax. 

“Got a proposition for ye,” he said, handing her the beef he’d picked up. 

“What is this?” He sighed when he saw her shoulders stiffen again. The girl was always on guard. 

“Saw ye at the meet counter, thought ye looked a little indecisive on whether ye wanted it. Got it in case ye did” he said, leaning back again the car, trying to look as nonthreatening as he could to the lass.

“I don’t need charity,” she said, repeating what she’d said at the clubhouse.

“Not charity,” he said. “Think of it as payment. You working at Lou’s?” He motioned to the dress she was wearing. It was the uniform all the waitresses at the dinner on Main wore.

“Payment for what?” Christ, she wasn’t going to let it go, he thought.

Instead of answering, he tilted his head and stared. He knew he was giving her the same look he gave the CaraCara girls when he needed to get them in line without actually having to threat them. He raised his eyebrows.

“Lou’s?” he said, ignoring her question completely. 

“It was my third day. Probably my last too. I dropped three plates. And a cup of coffee,” she said. She said something else under her breath that Chibs couldn’t make out but he was pleased to see the blush he liked so much appear across her cheeks.

“What was that lassie?” She took a deep breath and the blush slowly moved down her neck towards her chest. He couldn’t help but follow it with his eyes. When he looked back up at her face, he saw her swallow nervously.

Good girl, he thought. He needed her a little nervous. Not enough to scare her but enough to pull her in. 

“I dropped the coffee on Jacob Hale,” she admitted. Chibs couldn’t help the roar of laughter that came out. 

“Shite, hen. Not much of a waitress, eh?” He smiled. “I thank ye for that.”

“Payment for what?” she asked again and Chibs could tell she was tired of the game he was playing. He looked down at Noah. The boy looked as tired as his mom.

“Someone’s been dealing at the Charming Oaks.”

“You mean Randy?” she said pushing the cart past him and opening up the back door of the car to put the groceries in.

“I go’ the bags lass. Worry about the boy,” he said slipping the ground beef into one of the bags and putting them on the seat of her little beater. He watched as she opened the opposite door and carefully put Noah in his seat. She placed a soft kiss on the boy’s head after buckling him in. Chibs smiled when he saw his eyes were already closing. Gently, she closed the door and Chibs followed suit. 

He waited till she was back on the driver’s side and turned the engine on so that the AC was blowing on the laddie. 

“Randy?” he asked, stepping closer to her so that she had to look up at him. 

“The dealer? Sarah buys from him sometimes,” she said. 

“Fuck,” he swore. He didn’t need a fucking junkie at CaraCara. “What’s Sarah buying from him?” 

“I don’t know,” Haley said, panicked and Chibs knew she aware that she just got her cousin into serious shit. “She doesn’t tell me shit.”

He has to fight the urge to put his hands on her shoulder to try and comfort her but he doesn’t. He needs to know what the fuck the girls have been doing in their back yard. 

“She doesn’t! I mean all I know is sometimes she takes coke,” she finally finished. Chibs can’t stop himself from laughing. 

“Takes coke? Love, nobody takes coke,” he said gently, realizing that it must sound like he was laughing at her. Before he can think better, he wipes his thumb over the blush on her cheek and watches as it deepens even though her body relaxes a bit.

“What’s he drive?” 

“Why do you care?” she asked, back on the defensive. Chibs grabs her chin softly and makes her look at him directly in the eye. He knew she was too young and too naive to know the rules but it was best she learned them now if she was going to be around the club in any way. He lets go though when he catches a hint of fear in her face. He doesn’t want to actually scare the lass he just needs her to bend to him a little bit.

“No one deals in Charming,” he says seriously. He steps back a bit, not enough for her to get in the car and leave but enough for her to reach in her purse. “Go’ a pen?” he asked. When she hands him a pen, he writes down his number on the receipt the cashier handed him. 

“Call me nex’ time ye see ‘im” he said shoving both back at her. “I’ll give ye a couple hundred for the intel,” he said, smiling at her in a way that he knew would leave her redder than before. He wasn’t wrong. 

Chibs sat on the couch and watched as Lyla coached a girl how to insert a dildo in a guy’s ass. It was part of Lyla’s new gig. She was coaching the newer girls, helping Luanne on shoots, and sitting in on business meetings. From what Chibs could tell, it was working out but it seemed like the only thing that was. It’d been three days and Chibs hadn’t heard a peep out of Haley. Prospects hadn’t seen shite either. 

To make it worse, Gemma had discovered Suzie, the croweater that’d been keeping the houses clean while the boys were in, had boosted some pills and weed from Juice’s apartment. Chibs would have never noticed but Gemma had caught her. Surprise inspection, Clay’s old lady had called it.

Chibs watched as the girl Lyla was coaching worked the dildo in. When the guy let a throaty moan, Chibs stood so quickly it caught the girls attention. He smiled at the two blondes. 

“Ye’re doing great, love,” he said to the girl but quickly turned away and headed to Luanne’s office. Luanne was sitting behind the desk staring at the computer. 

“Chibs! Just the man I wanted to talk to,” she smiled. 

“Aye? Why’s that?” The woman wanted something, he could smell it.

“Lyla!” Luanne called into hall. “Come here!”

“Lyla had a great idea,” Luanne said, closing the door behind the other woman.

“Lu-“ Lyla said sharply.

“Ok, so we both had the idea,” Luanne conceded quickly. “You’re great with the girls.”

“We’ve all noticed it,” Lyla said softly. Whatever this was, Chibs was sure he didn’t want a part. “You make everyone feel at home.” 

“Aye?” Chibs wasn’t going to make this easier on them. Whatever they wanted- they’d have to spit it out. Neither woman said anything and the silence stretched until Luanne couldn’t take it anymore.

“Wewantyoutoworkoncamera,” she said in one breath so that Chibs couldn’t understand a word she was saying.

“Ye what?” he said. They had to be fucking joking, he thought.

“Georgie’s got these videos he’s doing- spanking videos,” Lyla said.

“The hits are unbelievable-“ Luanne interrupted.

“They’re creepy as fuck,” Lyla continued. “Old men putting girls over their knees and beating them till they cry.” Chibs watched as she shuddered. 

“And ye want me to do this?” Chibs said incredulously. “Be the creepy old man putting some lassie over me knee, makin ‘em cry?”

“We don’t want you to rough them up that much,” Lyla said. “Just a little spanking, I could show you how—“

“The girls said they’d do it, if it was you,” Luanne interrupted again. 

“Ye already talked to them about it before talkin’ to me?” He knew he was yelling now. Neither woman budged. 

Fuckin’ old ladies, he thought.

“No,” he said, wrenching open the door and walking down the hall. 

“We’ll keep working on him,” he heard Luanne say from behind him. 

“You bloody will no’!” he yelled back down the hall. There was a silence in the building as shoots were interrupted but for once he didn’t fuckin care. Fuck this shite. 

He was in the parking lot heading toward his bike when he saw Sarah, walking from her car, texting. 

“SARAH!” He startled her so bad, she dropped her phone. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Ye-ah,” she said, obviously scared. Chibs wondered if Haley had admitted to her that she told Chibs Sarah was buying Charming. She knew the rules. The way her eyes were bulging, Chibs thought the answer was yes. 

“Sorry, lassie. Shite day,” he said when he opened his eyes. “Your cousin get fired from Lou’s yet?”

“No,” she said confused. “Well, kinda. She’s only got her waiting tables at night before they close, then she cleans the place. She’s only getting like four hours a night,” the girl said. “I told her she needs to get her ass back over here to talk to Luanne but she won’t do it. She’s shy, you know.” 

Chibs nodded. The girl was shy. He smiled at Sarah again. 

“Well, when ye get a chance, tell her I got a job for her. Couple days a week, cleaning houses,” he said. 

“Okay,” Sarah said, obviously a little confused at why he was offering her cousin work but she nodded and headed into the studio. 

Haley shuffled the cards and dealt them quickly on the kitchen table. It was 11 pm on a Thursday and she couldn’t sleep. She’d been on her first game of solitaire when she heard the engine of Randy’s car. It was an old muscle car that always sounded like it was on it’s last legs but she couldn’t really talk. Her car had broken down three times in the last month. 

She’d listened as the car did its rounds around the lot before cutting off like she knew it would. He had a thing for the junkie in building C. Haley only knew because of Sarah. Haley didn’t talk to her neighbors. Most of them scared her. Her mother used to say only prostitutes and pimps lived at Charming Oaks. Haley knew that wasn’t true. There weren’t enough prostitute and pimps in Charming to fill the eight apartment buildings that made up the complex. But Haley had never really been able to shake the image her mother had planted. 

Haley had to admit that the men, women, and even the kids, that did live there all seemed to have a look of want on their faces that made Haley uncomfortable. She wasn’t sure if it was because she was afraid they wanted something from her and she knew how easy it would be for them to take what little she had or if it was the thought of her face having that same look some day. She never wanted to feel that hopeless even though she thought she might be starting to.

She listened to the night’s silence for a few minutes before picking up her phone and dialing the number Chibs had written down. 

“Is he there?” he asked as soon as he picked up. Haley nodded then realized he couldn’t see her through the phone.

“Yeah,” she said softly. She didn’t want to wake Noah but she also didn’t want anyone to heard her through the paper thin walls. She wasn’t sure she was going the right thing. Sarah was still pissed at her for telling Chibs about Randy. She wouldn’t take Haley’s calls and refused to watch Noah so Haley hadn’t been able to work. Lou had called and fired her earlier in the day. Haley could tell the man felt bad about it but she knew Lou needed someone he could rely on. Between her shit car and no one to watch Noah, it wasn’t Haley.

“Turn off yer lights and go to bed,” he said before hanging up. 

Fat chance, she thought. The lights were already off anyway because of Noah. She was playing by the light of the microwave.

She played game after game and listened. After thirty minutes she thought she heard a noise but when she stopped and listened again there was nothing. No motorcycles, no sign of Randy’s engine starting, no yelling. For once, the apartments were quiet. Her next-door neighbor’s tv was off. It was so quiet, Haley could hear Noah breathing from the bed. 

Six quick games of solitare later she heard a soft tap at the door. She looked over at Noah’s crib but he didn’t move. She looked out the peephole and saw the large reaper on the back of his vest. He was facing away from the door and looking at something down on the pavement. She opened the door to let him in. 

“Thanks, for the call,” he said quietly as he entered the apartment. 

She nodded and grabbed one of the beers that Sarah in the fridge and handed it to him before taking her seat again. From the corner of her eye she could see him take a seat across from her as she began to move the cards around the table. When she looked up, he had one of his eyebrows up, questioning what she was doing. 

“Solitaire, I play when I can’t sleep,” she said and watched as he twisted the top off the bottle. 

“Where’s the risk if ye’re playing cards alone?” He asking taking a sip of his beer.

“Is that why you’re in Samcro? The risk?” She didn’t know what made her say except she was tired. She wouldn’t lie and say she hadn’t wondered why someone one would choose to be in a motorcycle gage. When she looked up again, he was peeling the label off the bottle. 

“Aye, I guess” he said softly after a moment. He took a long tug from the bottle before putting it down. She watched as he pulled out his wallet. He placed two hundreds on the table. 

“You still working at Lou’s?” he asked, looking over at Noah’s crib. 

Haley looked over at her son too. She couldn’t bring herself to look at Chibs but she shook her head no. “I can’t get anyone to watch him,” she said. 

“What about your mom, hen?” 

“What about her?” She knew her voice was sharp. She also knew he didn’t know anything about her family but the mention of her mother hurt. There was a time that Haley had thought her mother would be there for her, even if they didn’t get along well. She’d have never guessed how wrong she was. 

“My mom hasn’t talked to me since I went to have my c-section,” she said. No Helen Masterson had dropped her off at the Emergency Room entrance of St. Thomas and left her heavily pregnant daughter to find find the mother’s wing and check herself in for the procedure. It was Sarah and her mother that picked Haley up a couple days later after a nurse on night shift finally asked if there was someone she could call. No one had come to see her or to welcome Noah into the world. 

“Jaysus, hen. Sorry,” he said softly. “What ‘bout Sarah?” he asked. “She didn’t tell you I had a job for you? I told her days ago.” 

“She’s not talking to me,” she admitted. “I can’t even work right now anyway. I told you I got no one to watch him.” She didn’t really know how to explain the relationship she had with her cousin. They got along, she guessed. But they’d always been different. Haley been into books when Sarah was into anything that wasn’t a book. Friends, Barbies, boys. Anyway, she’d been raised not far away in Lodi but Haley could count the number of times she’d seen Sarah growing up on two hands. Her mother had never liked her Aunt Tina and Aunt Tina was probably the only reason that Sarah ever helped Haley out. 

Haley finally looked at the man again. He was looking at he with such a kind face she wanted to hit him. It was a face she didn’t even know the man could make. She felt the tears well up in her eyes but she refused to cry in front of someone she barely knew. Even if he was the only other person besides Sarah, or Lou, who had talked to her lately. She looked back towards Noah. 

“Come by the shop around 10 am tomorrow. I’ll see if Neeta can watch him and Abel. We need someone to help clean the guys houses while they’re inside,” he continued. “The crow eater—“

“The what?” she interrupted quickly. She was back to feeling like she was only understand half of what the man was saying. 

“The girl we had helping Gemma, cleaning the houses, we think she took some shite from Juice’s house last week. We got rid of her but we need someone we can trust to keep everything from smelling like shite when my brothers finally get out.”

He pushed the money across the table. “A couple hundred a week,” he said. 

Haley watched as stood and walked silently over to the crib. She wanted to call out when she saw his hand reach out to touch the boy but stopped when she saw him look down at him. He looked at him with the same kindness he looked at Haley with. Noah needed that from someone.

“10 tomorrow.”

Haley nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a lot longer than I expected it to take so I made this chapter a little longer. I had most of it written and then had to rewrite it because I realized I was not delivering on the premise and then I wasn't moving the two forward enough. 
> 
> This is definitely going to be a slow burn. Hope you enjoyed. Hopefully, it won't take me as long with the next chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haley meets Gemma. Things get weird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Didn't create SONS. Don't own it. Still find it odd that Disney, of all companies, now does...

Chibs had barely opened all the bays to the garage when Gemma arrived at Teller-Morrow. He swore to himself. He should have known calling her in the middle of the night to ask if Neeta could watch Noah would wake up Mama Bear. 

“What the hell are you doing?” she asked. It was 6 am and there was no one else on the lot. 

“Mornin’ Gemma. At the mo’ I’m cleaning up the mess Lowell and Jock left,” he said. He motioned to the mess of tools on the workbench where the two mechanics were rebuilding the engine of an old Indian a guy from Lodi brought in. 

“Don’t play coy with me. What’re you doing Chibs?” 

Chibs didn’t answer. It’s too early for this, he thought. She had a point though. He asked himself the same question as he shaved his split upper lip. Randy the Dealer had gotten a couple hits in before Opie and Kozik had him tied up. 

“I dinnae ken,” Chibs finally said. “I just remember how much me ma struggled after me da left I guess. And I see that in ‘er a bit.” 

Chibs father had left when he eight. They’d been living in shithole housing project when the man left his ma to feed two children herself. Chibs had watched as she worked 40 hours a week as a housecleaner to a family that never went to sleep hungry.

Gemma shook her head. “If you call me at two o’clock in the morning again I will use your balls for target practice,” Gemma said. “Gash better be on time.”

Chibs nodded and said a quick prayer of thanks, knowing he’d gotten off easy.

It was 9:52 when he saw her car pull in the lot. He pushed himself from under the Camry he was working on and watched as she parked her car. It was such a piece of shit. Even over the noise in the garage, he could hear the engine knocking. Rod bearings, he thought. He’d take a look while Gemma was out. 

Speaking of Gemma, he thought, as he noticed the woman staring out the office window shaking her head. He quickly stood up from the creeper and walked towards the car as Haley was lifting Noah from the backseat. 

“Morning love,” he said when he reached them. “Morning to you too laddie,” he said, kissing Noah on the head. Chibs had barely leaned back from greeting the boy when Gemma was there, taking him out of Haley’s arms without saying anything. Haley looked shocked. Chibs shook his head. The Old Lady sure knew how to charm ‘em.

“Haley, this is Gemma Morrow. Gemma, Hale,” he said. Gemma already had the back to her Escalade open and was strapping the boy into Abel’s car set. 

Haley was pretty sure Chibs was full of shit on this one. It was pretty obvious that Gemma, whoever the hell she was, was not the kind of woman who explained herself. She still couldn’t believe the nerve of the woman for taking Noah from his mother’s arms without asking permission. 

The ride was silent for a few miles until the woman finally said, “So, you’re not a whore, huh?”

“Um, no,” Haley said. Why was she asking if she was a whore? 

“I heard what you said to Luanne,” Gemma clarified. 

“Oh,” Haley said. “Yeah.” She was never going to live that down.

“Cute kid,” the woman said, looking in the rearview mirror at Noah. Haley looked back and smiled. Noah was watching the world go by outside the window.

“He is.” He’s beautiful, she wanted to say. 

“Where’s the father?” Haley looked over at Gemma. This had no woman boundaries. 

“USC,” Haley said after a moment, not bothering to lie. According to Facebook, Josh Mason was living his best college life. He’d pledged Phi Kappa and walked on to the football team. He even had a girlfriend. Just thinking about it made Haley grind her back teeth. 

“So not around?” 

“He says he’s not his,” Haley said, watching as they passed Charming Elementary.

“Hoping someone wants to play daddy?” Gemma asked.

“What?” Haley started. “No. Look I need the money. Chibs said he needed someone to clean houses. If it’s a problem—“

“Not a problem. Just trying to see where your head is. Good little girl running around with a bunch of motorcycle enthusiasts. I’m sure Helen would be so proud.”

“You know my mom?” 

“This is Charming,” Gemma said as if Haley was stupid. After a minute she added, “I was a little ahead of your Aunt Tina in school. “

Haley turned back and watched the streets. She was right, this was Charming. If you didn’t know someone directly, you knew their sister or brother, their uncle or their cousin. Most people lived and died within the same five miles they were born in. When her grandmother died when Haley was two, her mother had inherited the house she grew up in and had raised Haley there. 

“Your mom always beats me at the Fall Festival pie contest,” Gemma admitted after a pause. Haley thought the older woman sounded bitter. She tried to imagine the woman who ran with the biker gang baking a pie. “You know her pie crust recipe?”

“Yeah?” Haley said. She’d been forced to help bake the pies for Thanksgiving ever since she was tall enough to reach the kitchen counter. She watched as Gemma smiled widely as they pulled into a driveway. 

“Good,” she said. 

Haley was unsurprised to see the woman let herself into the house like she owned the place. Haley followed her in and shifted Noah so she could close the door. When she looked back into the living room, Gemma was gone, leaving Haley not sure of where she should go. As far as houses, it was pretty bare but the couch was nice and there were baby toys scattered on the living room floor. After a moment, a pretty pregnant brunette appeared in the doorway from the hall.

“You must by Haley. Sorry, I haven’t had my coffee yet. Gemma getting Abel?” the woman asked, yawning. 

“I’m not sure. She disappeared as soon as we walked in…” Haley shrugged. 

“Of course she did,” the woman rolled her eyes. She walked closer and stuck out her hand, “Tara. I’m Jax’s girlfriend.” 

Half the mystery solved, Haley thought as she shifted Noah in her arms again so she could shake the woman’s hand. “Haley. I’m here to clean houses.” She said with a smile. “This is Noah,” she motioned to her son who had buried his face in her neck as always. 

Tara laughed. “Come on in the kitchen,” she said. Haley sat down at the table and watched as Tara took some milk and apple juice out of the fridge. “Milk or juice for the little man?” she asked.

At the word juice, Noah finally looked up, peering around Haley in interest. 

“Juice,” Haley answered as Gemma walked in with a baby. The blond-haired toddler looked sleepy but seemed to perk up at the sight of his mother. 

“Abel’s more of a tit man himself,” Gemma said passing the baby to Tara. “I see you met Miss Not a Whore.” Behind Gemma’s back, Haley saw Tara roll her eyes.

“Yes, I met Haley. You left her in my living room so I was bound to run into her at some point,” she responded. Gemma didn’t answer but started to get eggs out of the fridge. Haley watched as the woman scrambled two eggs. After a few minutes, she set a plate down in front of Haley and one in front of Tara. She waited until Haley was helping Noah eat the egg before she spoke again.

“This is only temporary sweetheart,” Gemma said in a tone that Hale supposed passed for mothering. “If you’re going to stick around, you’re gonna have to start putting a dick in that pussy sometime. We’re not a charity.” Then she hurried off when there was a knock at the door. 

“She’s not wrong,” Tara said softly. 

“That the only way to earn money is on my back?” Haley's first impression was to like the woman but now she wasn’t so sure. 

“No,” Tara said quickly. “That the guys aren’t going to pay you to clean their houses when they’re out.”

Haley had already thought of this but thought she would figure something out before the mysterious men got out of prison. 

“When are they getting out?” 

“Seven months, two weeks.” It was obvious that Tara was counting down the days.

“Well, you need help until then, right?” Haley asked. Tara looked down at her pregnant stomach then back up at Haley.

“We most certainly do,” she smiled. “I’m hoping you can help me with a couple things around the house, honestly.” 

Gemma and a woman that Haley had never seen before walked into the kitchen.

“Hi Neeta,” Tara said, standing to let the woman take her place next to Abel’s high chair.

“Are you sure it’s ok if Noah stays?” Haley asked no one in particular. She felt a bit guilty that her kid was being sprung on the babysitter last minute.

“Sure. Anyway, it’s better than daycare, right? Fewer germs,” Tara said as she pulled back her long hair into a ponytail. “Netta can handle anything, right Neeta?”

The woman laughed. “It’ll be practice for when there are two Teller babies running around,” Neeta said. 

“Oh, I gotta go,” Tara said catching the time. “Abel come give Mommy a kiss.” And as quickly as she appeared in the living room, the brunette disappeared, leaving Haley alone with Gemma, Neeta, and the boys. 

“We gotta get going ourselves Neeta,” Gemma said. “Lots to do today.” Haley wondered what Gemma was going to be doing. Haley had a feeling it wouldn’t be helping her clean anything. 

“So how many houses are there?” Haley asked when they were back in the Escalade. 

“Just Tig, Juice, and Bobby but we’ll save Juice and Bobby’s for tomorrow. Won’t take as long,”

“You think it’s going to take a full day to clean one house?” Haley asked. Gemma’s smile made Haley’s stomach drop and for a second she was worried that woman was slightly demented. What had she gotten herself into? 

“You’ve never met Tig,” Gemma said with a laugh.

The small house was not far from Charming Oaks. Gemma pulled into the drive next to an old pick up truck. After a minute of digging around in her purse, she pulled out a garage door opener and hit the button. Together the women unloaded grocery bags of cleaning supplies from the back of the car and carried them through the garage. Haley couldn’t help but shake her head at the various posters of bikini models on motorcycles staring down from the garage walls. 

“Bachelor pad, huh?” she asked when they walked in. There was a stack of unopened Penthouse magazines on top of the counter along with a pile of mail that had been collecting since the man went to prison. Gemma made a noise but didn’t answer.

“Suzie wasn’t much of a cleaner but she got the base level shit clean. I want it deep cleaned though while Tig’s inside. It’ll be another ten years before I get a chance to get in here again,” Gemma said, opening the cabinets under the sink and pulling out bottles of bleach. 

“Is he is your son?” Haley asked, still looking around. Why else would this woman want to clean a grown man’s house?

“Ha!” Gemma laughed. “They’re all sons but no. Jax is my only actual son. Living anyway. They’re all my boys though,” she said. The older woman went back out to the garage and pulled in a vacuum that Haley hadn’t noticed. 

“I’ll be back at 4,” the older woman said. “Try to be done by then.” She started to walk out but stopped when she remembered something. “Oh and if you find any guns don’t touch them. They’re loaded and knowing Tig the safety’s not on.” 

Haley stared. Then the woman was gone and Haley heard the garage door close. 

“Great,” she said to herself. She was now trapped. Haley could kind of see what Gemma meant by base-level shit. There were was nothing to really pick off the floor or organize on the counter. But she didn’t have to look close to see there was a layer of dust over everything; some of it was so thick that she was sure it had been accumulating for years. An image of the horror that would be on her mom’s face made her laugh. 

She started in the kitchen. She’d noticed when they walked in that there was a hint of a sickeningly sweet smell to the room that was causing her stomach to turn over. Reluctantly, she tried searching for it. She opened the cabinets above the counter but all she could see were sealed packages of beef ramen and cans of Chicken n’ Stars soup. In the cabinets below the counter, there were a few cooking pots but nothing that should smell. 

She found a gun in the first drawer she opened. She stared. Surrounding the gun were several boxes of ammunition. 

“How many bullets does one person need?” she asked the invisible Tig. “Jesus.”

She closed the drawer slowly, afraid that somehow she’d make the gun go off. The only guns she’d ever seen were in movies. She pulled the next drawer open and sighed in relief when it was filled with silverware and soy sauce packets. The next held grilling utensils and an open pack of condoms.

Who the fuck lives like this? She thought as she slammed the drawer shut. The fridge was clean from what she could see. Suzie or Gemma had emptied it of everything. Haley pulled out the shelves and drawers to clean.

She found the smell in the freezer. The whole right side of the freezer was a solid block of ice. 

“What the fuck!” she said staring at it. “How the hell does that even happen?”

Tig, she decided, was a pig. Reaching behind the fridge, she unplugged the appliance. She knew the only way she was getting rid of the ice was too defrost the whole thing. Luckily, the first door she found in the hallway was a bathroom. She got a few towels from the linen closet and lined the floor around the fridge so that it would soak up any water that might leak out. 

She stared around trying to decide what to do next. “Gotta start somewhere,” she said to herself. “Just pick something.” 

She decided on the blinds. The dark house felt like a cave even with the lights on. She opened the sliding glass door that led to a tiny square back year and located a hose.

“Perfect!” She grabbed one of the dining room chairs and carefully took the blinds off each window. She’d gotten the three down from the living room windows when she decided to go ahead and get the ones from the rooms she hadn’t seen yet. Gemma wanted the house “deep cleaned” after all.

She located a bedroom and sighed in relief when the only weird thing she saw was a collection os samurai swords on the wall and a pair of fuzzy pink handcuffs hanging from the headboard. Quickly she removed the blinds and moved to the last room on the hall. She’d expected another bedroom, possibly an office. But sitting in the middle of the otherwise empty room was stockade with chains attached. A wooden paddle laid on the accompanying bench. The wicked look on Gemma’s face suddenly made sense. 

Haley wrenched the door closed again. Her face felt so warm she thought it might never go back to normal. 

“She can clean that shit herself,” she said to no one. 

Morning ran into the afternoon. Once the blinds were cleaned and drying in the sun, she cleaned the windows, then the sills. She ran a wet rag over the coffee table and entertainment stand in the living room to collect dust then followed it with a dry rag. She cleaned the tops of the fan blades in the living room and dining rooms then removed the lightbulbs and fixtures from the fans so she could clean them. 

She wants clean, I’ll give her clean, Haley thought as she aggressively scrubbed the glass fixtures in the bathroom sink. 

It was 2:30 by the time she went back to the kitchen. There was no way she was getting done today, she thought. She pulled a piece of junk mail from the counter and found a pen in one of the drawers. 

I wonder if Gemma would rent a steam cleaner, she thought as she made a list of things that still needed to be done. Her mother always said the carpet wasn’t clean unless you steam clean it. Maybe it’d help with the smell.

Nothing could have prepared her for opening the freezer door again.

Chibs was driving at least twenty miles over the speed limit. He’d already run through two stop signs, barely missed clipping the back end of an Escort when he went through the last intersection.

Haley was crying so hard he could barely make out what the hell she was saying when she called. All he did hear was “Tig” and “head” before she started hyperventilating. Instead of trying to figure out what was wrong on the phone, he’d hung up and ran over to his bike, yelling at Gemma as she walked out of the office. 

“The hell’d you do, Gemma?” He knew if Clay was out, he’d be facing Jax in the ring for yelling at his President’s Old Lady but he couldn’t find it in him to give a shite. The sound of Haley hyperventilating on the other end of the phone had his heart pounding. 

He barely got his kickstand down when he was off his bike running towards the door at Tig’s house. He twisted the doorknob but it didn’t budge. He punched the door several times, hoping Haley’d hear over her crying. 

“Let me in, Haley!” he yelled. Gemma pulled up in the Escalade a couple of minutes later. 

“Move!” she said, sticking the key in the door and unlocking it. 

Chibs went from room to room looking for the girl. When he opened the last bedroom, he swore. Tig really was a freak. 

“She’s out here,” Gemma called. He found them in the backyard. Haley was sitting in a plastic patio chair, rocking herself. 

“Hey,” he said kneeling in front of her. He put his hand on her face and tried to wipe away her tears but she jerked away. 

“It’s in the freezer,” she mumbled. 

“What’s in the freezer?” Chibs asked, not understanding. Gemma walked back in the house and Chibs heard her open the freezer. 

“Oh shit,” the woman cried. Not wanting to leave Haley but not seeing how he had a choice, he stood up and followed Gem inside. 

“Who’s that?” he asked, staring at the frozen head in the freezer. The skin was an awful green color but he thought the hair might be blonde. 

“How the hell should I know?” Gemma stared at him incredulously. She shut the freezer door. From outside they could hear Haley start to cry again. 

“Sorry,” Gemma said. “I had no idea that was what the smell was. I thought a rat must’ve died in the walls or something.” 

“Call the prospects. I’ll talk to her,” Chibs said as he stepped back out into the yard. He grabbed another patio chair and sat down across from Haley. He reached forward after a minute and grabbed her hand.

“Come ‘ere, love,” he said pulling her forward so she was forced to stand up. He patted a leg and she sat stiffly down on his thigh. Chibs could see she was holding her breath, trying hard not to cry. He leaned back in the chair and pulled her with him. When she finally gave in and rested her head on his shoulder, he wasn’t surprised to feel her turn her face into his neck. She wondered if she realized she was hiding her face the same way her son did.

He took a deep breath. What do you say to make this right? 

“You knew when you agreed to bartend, who we were,” he said softly.

“I didn’t think it meant I’d find a head in a freezer,” she shrieked, sitting back up. Chibs didn’t hesitate to roughly put one of his hands over her mouth and one around the back of her head, forcing her to hold still. He doubted the neighbors were home on a weekday afternoon but he couldn’t be too sure. Her eyes got wide and he shook his head, making sure she took the implied threat seriously. He let go of her head and pulled her towards him. This time, he knew she wouldn’t relax but it didn’t stop him from rubbing her back again.

“Listen closely love,” he said softly. “We don’ leave witnesses in this life. A beautiful-” he heard her scoff under her breath “Eh, look me in the eye love,” he said, putting his hand under her chin and to make her look up at him. He wanted to make sure she knew he meant the word. “A beautiful young thing like yourself should have a long life ahead her. So, what we’re going to do- I’m going to put my hand over your eyes. We’re going walk back through the house. I’m going to leave you in the garage for a few minutes while I talk to Gemma. Then I’m going to take you to the garage to get your car, we’ll go get Noah. You’ve ‘ad a long day.“ He brushed her hair out of her face. “Aye?”

She nodded her head quickly.

“Good lass,” he said. He motioned for her to stand and quickly followed. He led her back to the doorway with his hand over her eyes. 

Haley closed her eyes even though Chibs’ hand blocking her from seeing anything. She didn’t want to take any chance of seeing the head again. For a second her breathing choked at the thought. She now knew the smell of rotting flesh.

“Breathe hen,” he said as walked through the kitchen and into the garage. When they finally stopped he dropped his hand and said, “Here. It’ll only be a mo’.” She watched as he disappeared back into the house of horrors. For a second, the wave of nausea she felt when she first saw the face staring back at her returned and she bent over holding her stomach. She took a deep breath and after a minute, it passed. 

She stood back up to find one of the poster’s staring down at her. The woman frozen on the motorcycle seemed to be laughing at her. 

“Fuck you,” she said as Chibs appeared at the door. 

“Wha’ was that?” he said, smiling when he saw her glaring at the poster. 

“Nothing,” Haley said quickly. Gemma walked out of the house but Haley refused to look at the woman. Gemma must have noticed because she said, “Look I don’t do the apology thing—“

Haley looked up. Was she really not going to apologize? she thought as Chibs made a noise of disbelief.

“You didn’t let me finish,” Gemma said defensively. She looked at Haley, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what was in the freezer. I just thought the place smelled funky.”

“Yeah, ok,” Haley said. She hadn’t forgiven the woman but she wanted to get away from the place. Chibs opened the garage and Haley walked out. He and Gemma had a murmured conversation but Haley didn’t care what they were saying. She wanted to go home. 

After a minute, Chibs came over and took a spare helmet out of the saddlebag. She didn’t say anything as he placed it carefully on her head and tightened the strap around her chin. Once he was on the bike, he helped her on as he had the night he took her home from the clubhouse. He was about to start the bike when the phone rang.

“Shite, what now,” he said looking at his phone. “What?” he answered. Haley was close enough that she could hear it was Luanne on the other end of the line. 

“Ima showed up wasted,” Luanne said quickly. “She hit half the cars in the parking lot.” 

“She fuckin’ what?” he roared into the phone, Haley couldn’t help but jump but she slid closer to Chibs when he ran a hand up and down one of her thighs. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

So much for going home, she thought as he backed down the driveway. 

It was obvious that no one was filming any porn as soon as they arrived in the lot. The girls were all standing around watching as Luanne screamed at the top of her lungs at a drunk woman that Haley assumed was Ima. The damage was worse than Luanne made it sound. Haley could tell that at least two of the cars were completely totaled and three of them would need extensive bodywork before they were drivable. She didn’t feel bad when she saw Sarah’s back bumper would definitely need to be replaced. 

Haley could feel eyes on her as Chibs helped her off the bike.

“Stay here while I take care o’ this,” he said. He was storming off towards Luanne and Ima when Sarah walked over.

“What’re you doing with Chibs?” Sarah asked. It wasn’t a kind question. What is he doing with you? was what she was asking. 

“I’m cleaning some houses for him,” Haley said. She didn’t need this right now. She turned away from her cousin to watch the drama unfold. Across the parking lot, Ima leaned forward and puked all over Luanne. Haley gagged. It felt like walls were pressing in on all sides. When she looked up, she no longer saw a parking lot, she was standing back in the kitchen, staring at the twisted frostbitten face of a woman. 

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Sarah asked.

Haley didn’t answer. Instead, she fell forward like Ima and puked all over Sara’s 6-inch heels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're enjoying the story, please let me know! It's my first time posting and need the encouragement. :-)
> 
> Also, I won't be posting for about two weeks. Don't worry I won't forget about the story! I am working on a separate writing project and need some time to focus on that.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Didn't create SONS. Don't own it. Still find it odd that Disney, of all companies, now does... 
> 
> Sorry for the delay! I hope you enjoy. If you do, please leave a comment or kudos. It's definitely encouraging to know that people are liking what they read. Thanks!

Haley watched Chibs from the lobby of CaraCara. The man who usually exuded confidence was standing upright and stiff as he spoke to the San Joaquin Sheriff’s Officer taking reports. As she watched, she couldn’t help but compare him to a wild animal who suddenly found itself in a cage. He moved cautiously as if waiting for a trap to snap. 

It had been hours since they’d arrived. Emily had called Tara on Chibs phone and explained the situation. 

“Gemma told me about your day,” the other woman said. “It’s no problem. We’re having dinner now.” 

Haley couldn’t help but wonder if it would have been a problem if she hadn’t seen a dead body in a club member’s freezer. 

Behind her, she heard someone take a seat in one of the other chairs. 

“Mind if I keep you company? Opie’s picking me up,” Lyla said. When Haley turned, the other woman was holding out another bottle of water. 

“Thanks,” Emily said, taking it. She’d already rinsed her mouth out with one of the travel size bottles of Listerine that Sarah kept in her bag. Her cousin had handed it over begrudgingly, still pissed about being puked on. 

“Chibs said you had a rough day?” 

Haley snorted. That doesn’t even begin to cover it, she thought. She wasn’t sure what to say, or if she should say anything to all. She hadn’t forgotten the look on Chibs face when he threatened her. He was serious, even if he’d tried to be nice about it. This thought confused Haley. How can someone be nice when they’re threatening you? 

She looked back at Lyla. She couldn’t help but like the woman. She was sweet.

“How do you do this?” Haley blushed. 

“What porn or…,” Lyla nodded towards the doors. Chibs was talking on his cell phone while the last car was towed away. 

“Both I guess,” Haley said. She hadn’t meant porn but she was curious about the answer. 

“Porn’s easy,” Lyla said. “I didn’t have much going for me. Dropped out, got pregnant— in that order— a girl I knew worked at a strip club in Lodi. It seemed like easy money, it seemed like a lot of money. Anything seems like a lot when you don’t any,” Lyla laughed. Haley nodded. She got that. 

“One day Luanne came in and told me she’d give me double what I made in an hour if I let her film me giving a guy a blow job. That was seven years ago…” she trailed off. A motorcycle had pulled in the lot and parked next to Chibs’ bike. It was the mountain of a man that Chibs had introduced her to weeks ago. 

“That’s easier,” she nodded towards the door. “Opie’s a good man. He’s got his demons but he takes care of me and the kids,” she said. 

After a beat, she added, “Chibs is a good man too, you know.” 

“He’s old enough to be my father,” Haley said. Lyla shrugged.

“You never know. He might like it if you call him Daddy,” she said before laughing at the horrified look on Haley’s face. After a second she stopped laughing.

“Can I give you some advice? Take it from someone who’s been in your shoes— sometimes, you just have to take what life gives you and roll with it. It’s never what you thought it would be but that doesn’t mean it’s a shitty life.”

“I don’t think I can ever do porn,” Haley said.

Lyla laughed again. “That’s ok.” They both looked outside. Opie waved.

“I gotta go. Hope tomorrow’s better for you,” the other woman said as she left. 

Haley tried to smile at Lyla as she left. She understood what Lyla was trying to tell her but she couldn’t help but think that the woman had never someone’s head in a freezer.

Chibs followed her after she picked up her car from Teller-Morrow then stopped by to get Noah from Tara’s house. Haley spent fifteen minutes alone apologizing for being so late but the other woman waved off the apology. 

“We all have bad days,” Tara said but Haley noticed there was a tightness around her mouth and eyes. If Haley had to bet who knew more about the Sons of Anarchy, Lyla, or Tara, she’d bet Tara. The other woman seemed on the verge of saying something but Haley had a feeling Chibs being there was holding her back. 

Haley was surprised when he continued to follow her to Charming Oaks. He was parked and off his bike before she got her door open. He opened the door to the backseat and lifted a sleepy Noah into his arms. He shook his head when Haley held her arms out.

“I got ‘em,” he said, motioning for her to go ahead of him. They didn’t say another word until they were in the apartment and Chibs laid Noah down in his crib. The boy cried for a few minutes before falling back to sleep.

“I’m out of beer,” she said when he took a seat at the kitchen table. He sat pitched forward, his face in his hands. 

“No worries lass,” he said, leaning back and dragging his hands along his face. “A beer’s not gonna do it today anyway.” 

The confident man that Haley was used to seeing was back. The caged animal released, she thought. 

He patted his thigh. Haley stared. 

“I’m not a dog,” she said. He rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Come ‘ere then.”

Reluctantly, she stood and went to him. Unsurprisingly, he pulled her onto his knee. It was her turn to roll her eyes. 

“I’m sorry for what happened today,” he said. “Cleaning Bobby and Juice’s houses won’t be as bad. You’ll need to be at the garage at the same time tomorrow.”

“How can you expect me to just go clean more houses?” She finally burst out. “How is this normal? Or okay? Or—”

“Because it has to be,” Chibs said, not giving her a chance to continue. He’d grabbed her face to force her to look at him. “I wasn’t fuckin playin’ with you earlier. You’ve got to get right with this. I don’ want to make that boy an orphan, but someone will if you don’ fall in line.”

When he let go of her face, she immediately looked away. Her stomach turned over like she might be sick again. He felt his hand rub her back as if he was trying to comfort her, but she couldn’t bring herself to look back at him. Instead, she stared at the microwave above the fridge. From the corner of his eye, she saw that he had reached into his kutte and pulled out his wallet. She turned and watched as he pulled out five hundred dollars. She started to shake her head. No one paid five hundred dollars for cleaning houses.

“Three hundred is for cleaning the houses, today, and tomorrow. I want you to do mine while you’re at it. You can do it tomorrow or you can do it the next day. Whenever. I’m going to be at Cara Cara cleaning this Ima shit up for the next week anyway,” he said when she started to argue. “The two hundred is for being such a good lass today.”

“A good lass?!?” She gasped for air. The panic attack that had building since they left Tigs was finally catching up with her. Bending over quickly, she put her head between her knees. She felt Chibs rub her back again. Breathe in, she thought. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. 

It took her a minute to realize Chibs' voice was actually saying the mantra out loud.

“Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out,” he said softly.

After a moment she raised her head. 

“You didn’t call the cops. You’ve kept your nose down.,” he said, still rubbing small circles on her lower back. “In my books, that’s what a good lass does.”

She couldn’t stop the small sob that escaped. 

“It’ll get easier. You watch, you’ll learn. If you have questions, you come to me,” he said. “You don’t tell anyone what happened today. You don’t tell Sarah or anyone from CaraCara. Ok?“

“I don’t think Sarah’s going to be talking to me anytime soon.” Haley couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped as she remembered the look on her cousin’s face after she puked on her. Chibs smiled. 

“Cleaning Bobby and Juice’s houses won’t be as bad. You’ll need to be at the garage at the same time tomorrow. Eh, what do you say?” 

“Okay,” she mumbled. She let out a yelp and jumped up when he slapped her ass. This man spends too much time around porn stars, she thought. 

“Good lass. Go to bed.”

Chibs hated visiting Stockton. The guards, the fences, the walls; all of it made him feel like he was on the inside. Every time a door closed behind him, he felt as if a cage door had closed. He watched as the guards brought prisoners into the visiting room one-by-one. 

“Trager,” a guard called after a few minutes. Tig entered the room and the guard pointed to the table where Chibs sat.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the porn king of charming! To what do I owe the pleasure?” Tig asked, taking a seat. Fuck Opie, Chibs thought, knowing exactly how Tig had learned that little nickname. 

“Shoulda I ask?” Chibs motioned to the other man’s face. His left eyebrow had been split and was being held together with four stitches.

“Just me and Hap,” Tig said. “Cellmate shit.”

“Ye know he likes it clean,” Chibs snorted. Tig waived away the other man’s words with his hands.

“How’s Jax?” Chibs asked. Three hits to the torso and a punctured lung. Tara was beside herself. Gemma spent most of her day watching the other woman. Chibs didn’t think that at almost 7-and-a-half months pregnant, the woman was going anywhere but he didn’t say complain. Haley stepped in to help at the garage; he was glad to have something else for her to do. 

“You probably know as much as I do,” Tig said. “What I want to know is how we gut those sons of bitches.”

“Hmm,” Chibs said. It was no use talking about it here though. The room was tapped. “How’s the weather?” Asking about the added protection they’d arranged.

“Weather’s fine. How’s home?”

“Shite without you lot. The garage is slammed; Gemma’s babysitting Tara. She’s sure she’s gon’ take off with the bairn any day. I’ve got catfights and pussy out of my ears.” 

“Don’t talk about pussy. I can’t take it. My balls are fucking black they’re so blue,” Tig said. “I’m close to asking the Puerto Rican for a hummer.” 

Chibs cringed. The brother he worried about the most inside was Juice. 

“Don’t worry,” Tig said, seeing his reaction. “I won’t.” 

“Tell Ope, Lyla should look at the reservation for the wedding. Clay thinks he can get him a discount on the venue rental,” Tig said.

“Aye, will do,” Chibs said, glad to finally get down to why Clay had called. The two men shot the shit for a few minutes before the guards called the hour.

“Oh, I meant to ask ye bout something while I’m ‘ere,” Chibs said as if he’d forgotten. “Gemma ‘ad one o’ the girls cleaning out ye house. You left a right mess in the freezer ye sick fuck.”

Tig’s eye got wide. “I completely forgot about that,” he said after a moment. “I picked up some hooker in Lodi, we had dinner and a movie. I put the leftovers in the freezer.”

Jaysus, Chibs thought. Dinner and a snuff film is more like it. Chibs shook his head and barely hid his disgust. 

“Yeah well, the girl’s refusing to go back in the house so you’re stuck with what you got when you get out,” Chibs said. Tig nodded.

“Fair enough. The girl a friend?” 

“Nobody you know,” Chibs said. “But yeah, she’s a friend.”

Tig nodded. 

“See ya brother,” he said with a smile and nod. 

“Aye,” he said. “See ya.”

Chibs always felt guilty when the door closed behind one of his brothers. He couldn’t help but feel like he should be in there too.

Chibs was right. Cleaning the member’s places wasn’t as bad. As she cleaned their houses, she tried to imagine Bobby and Juice. Juice, she imagined, as an overgrown kid. The apartment over Charming’s only medical dispensary was filled with video game equipment and Star Wars figurines. She found a lot of weed in random places but no body parts or sex dungeons. 

Bobby’s house looked like it belonged to a middle-aged spinster who didn’t have any cats but who loved to bake. There were cookbooks everywhere, even one on the back of the toilet which made Haley gag. She never understood the idea of reading while on the toilet. Like Juice’s apartment, there was weed everywhere. A large glass jar sat on the back of the stove, there was a grinder on the coffee table that hadn’t been emptied, a two-foot bong sat on the dining room table. When she was cleaning up the bedroom she found an old-fashioned cigarette box with pre-rolled joints. She picked one up and inspected it. She’d never smoked weed. Never smoked anything, really. She put the joint in between her lips and wondered what it would be like to smoke it. 

When the front door slammed, she jumped. Closing the box quickly and stuffing the joint into her hoodie pocket.

She could hear the tell-tale sound of Gemma’s heels beating against the hardwood. The woman had picked her up from Juice’s place and ferried her to Bobby’s. Haley grabbed a pillow and fluffed it just as Gemma appeared in the doorway. She watched as the woman ran a critical eye over the room.

“C’mon,” Gemma said. “I’ve got shit to do.”

Haley was surprised to find that Chibs’ house was in the same neighborhood as her mother’s house. It was even a bit nicer. The yard was well kept and to her surprise, there were some potted plants by the door.

She couldn’t help but smile at the horror she knew her mother would feel if she knew. 

They stopped in front of a ranch-style house with an old-style Chevy truck sitting in the driveway. This was the house that Haley had wanted to see the most. She’d had a morbid curiosity about Juice and Bobby— there was a part of her that had to admit she wanted to see if they were as fucked up as the man named Tig. But Chibs’ house held answers to who this man, who had so suddenly appeared in her life, really was and that fascinated Haley. 

When she got out, Gemma didn’t bother getting out and unlocking the door as she had at the other houses. She just held the key out of the window of the SUV for Haley to take. 

“Just get his laundry started for tonight. I’ll be back in an hour. You can finish the rest in the morning.”

Haley nodded. It was almost 5 o’clock. Before she even had it unlocked, Gemma was gone. 

From the front entry, she could see that the inside of the house was as neat as the outside. Only a few things were out of place, a leather riding glove had fallen off the entry table and onto the floor, a sweatshirt hung over the back over the back of the couch, a pair of plastic rimmed glasses laid on the coffee table. She tried to imagine Chibs wearing the frames but found it too foreign to picture. A biker wearing reading glasses.

She picked up the book that was sitting next to the glasses. The Collected Works of H.P. Lovecraft, she read from the cover. There was an image of a flying saucer on the cover. She put it back down and looked around. Like most of the guy’s houses, the walls were pretty bare. She was surprised to see a crucifix by the door. 

“Must be Catholic,” she said to no one. After a moment, she shook her head and started to look around for the laundry room. She found it just off the kitchen. It took her another moment to find his bedroom. This room was the messiest. It looked like he often just left his clothes where they landed. Haley rolled her eyes and picked up the nearest pair of jeans.

She was sorting through everything she’d collected when she heard the front door open and close. She stood frozen until she heard a voice call out, “Haley? Lass, you here?” 

“Yeah,” she called. “Getting your laundry sorted.”

She listened as his boots made their way back to the bedroom. 

“Thanks, lass,” he said from the doorway. “Just came by to get some things. I’m gonna be gon’ for a few days.”

She nodded but didn’t say anything. 

“I’ll put the list of things I need from the store on the fridge. I won’t be back 'til Tuesday. Gemma’ll expects ye on Monday though. Said something about dusting and maybe helping with the books at the shop. 

“Okay.”

He watched her for a moment and Haley wondered what he might be looking for before he nodded at her and turned to leave.

“You were right. Today was easier,” she said. He turned back and smiled softly. After a moment, he walked towards her, stopping when he was so close that if either of them leaned the slightest bit forward, their chests would touch. 

“Was it?” he said, reaching up and putting his hands on either side of her face. Before she could stop herself, she felt her eyes closing and her head relax, sinking into them. After a moment like this, she opened her eyes and looked back up into his. For the first time in so long, she realized, she felt safe.

“I’ll be back Tuesday,” he said, his thumb softly running over her bottom lip. He let go slowly. 

Lyla’s words came back to her as she listened to the sound of his boots on the hardwood floor as he walked back to the front of the house: “It’s never what you thought it would be but that doesn’t mean it’s a shitty life.”

Haley may have wished that she’d never opened that freezer door but she was glad she’d asked Luanne for that job. Glad she met Chibs. Life wasn’t what she expected.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Didn't create SONS. Don't own it. Still find it odd that Disney, of all companies, now does... 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has left a comment, kudos or bookmarked this story. It's great see people are enjoying reading. I'm definitely enjoying writing this. 
> 
> Now for this chapter- remember this is definitely a slow burn piece but we're making progress. Let me know if you enjoy!

_**Next Friday** _

Chibs’ tried not to watch as Lyla worked the pole in the center of the backroom at Rachel’s. The strip club hadn’t been Chibs’choice for a meeting but Connell Murphy had insisted. When Chibs had set up the meet with the Kings to negotiate the first shipment of guns when Clay and the others got out, he hadn’t expected them to send a fecking graduate student from Berkely, but here he was, babysitting.

Chibs’ took a sip of beer before trying to get the young man to pay attention to anything besides Lyla’s tits.

“How’s the cause?”

Connell waved his hand dismissively and Chibs gritted his teeth.

When the song started to come to an end, Chibs motioned for Lyla to stop dancing. Chibs’ hated asking Opie if she’d be willing but they needed someone they could trust explicitly so they’d paid off the bouncers and bartenders to let Lyla freelance for the night,

“Oh, come on!” Connell said finally turning to look at Chibs as Lyla took a seat at the far end of the booth and pulled out her phone.

“It will be here two weeks after your boys get out of prison. The Kings want three months upfront as a show of loyalty,” the boy said.

Chibs cringed internally but just nodded. They had the money, but they’d need to make it up in porn profits.

“New storage unit will be ready for it,” Chibs said, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

Connell shrugged, not really caring. “Galen should be able to get in the country by then. Love, how bout a lap dance?”

Lyla looked up from her phone at the boy, cutting a glance over at Chibs who shook his head.

“She’s a friend, did this as a favor,” he said. “Get one of the other girls.”

Chibs stood up and held out his hand. Reluctantly, Connell shook it. Chibs waited in the hall outside the dressing room while Lyla changed. As they walked out he saw Connell surrounded by stripers in the main room.

They were at Lyla’s car before either of them spoke.

“Thank you for this, love,” he said, taking out a folded wad of bills and trying to hand them to her. She shook her head at first but laughed when he glared at her, giving her the same look he usually reserved for Ima, Chanel, or any of the other porn stars who showed up late to set or unprepared.

“That doesn’t work on me,” she laughed but she finally took the money.

He was about to head to his bike when she called out, “Have you given it any thought?”

Chibs stopped abruptly and turned back, “Are you still on about that?”

She at least had the decency to look a little sheepish and nodded. “The hits on Georgie’s videos are crazy, Chibs. The girls trust you, that’s rare in this business. If I wasn’t with Ope…” she trailed off and looked away. Chibs looked down at his boots. Opie was his brother.

“I love Opie,” she said quickly. “But I’ve been sucking dick to pay the bills since I was nineteen. Not once, have I ever trusted anyone in business more than you. Luanne’s good, don’t get me wrong, but you making the investments in the cam girls has doubled the business in less than six months. We’re filming three times as many more videos meaning more money for everyone. The girls see that. Some of them want to say thank you.”

“By letting me spank them?” Chibs said, tiredly. He’s watched a couple of Georgie’s videos at Luanne’s insistence. The man had proudly shown off the women’s bruised asses as the end. It left the same sick feeling in his stomach as Jimmy threatening his own Kerrianne.

“They all know you won’t fuck them, though from the rumors floating around the dressing room, a couple of them have given it a try,” she laughed. “I heard about Chanel.”

Chibs cringed. The girl had shown up at the clubhouse and somehow snuck into his bunk room last Tuesday night when he’d gotten back from the run up to Tacoma to deliver the Russian’s guns. He’d barely made it to his bed only to find that Chanel was already in it, wearing only six-inch heels. Despite feeling like he might fall asleep on the road, he’d driven to his house to find it blessedly empty but fully stocked with groceries, whiskey, and beer. God Bless Haley, he'd found himself mumbling before falling into bed.

“Why don’t we do a test shoot next week? Just see how it turns out?” Lyla asked. Chibs finally looked back at her face. He didn’t have it in him to say no at this point. He nodded.

“You won’t regret this!” she squealed, running and hugging him. “I’ll talk to Sarah—“

“No’ Sarah,” he said quickly. “No’ one of the regulars.”

Lyla looked at him thoughtfully. “Okay,” she said slowly. “Might take me a couple more days to find someone but I’ll let you know when.”

With nothing left to do, Chibs nodded and started towards his bike.

****

_**A couple of days later** _

Haley opened the door to Chibs house with difficulty, she was carrying two bags of groceries and Noah’s carrier. Tara had taken the day off from work to get the final touches on the nursery ready and Haley knew she couldn’t afford to pay Neeta on her own, so Noah had come with her to dust Juice and Bobby’s houses and to pick up Chib’s groceries.

It had been almost a month since she’d started cleaning the club members’ houses. Quickly, she found herself being given other odd jobs. Cleaning the clubhouse, stocking the bar when prospects were busy with club business, helping customers in the office of TM. She’d even watched Abel last week when Neeta had a doctor’s appointment. Haley was thankful that there was a constant rhythm to her days now.

She’d always been a creature of habit and change was something that threw her easily. That’s why, after weeks of entering the house on her own and finding herself comfortable in the space, too comfortable if she was honest with herself, she was unsure of what she would find. For the first time, Chibs' motorcycle was in the driveway next to his trunk.

Once inside, she looked around but didn’t see him.

“Chibs?” she called, unsure. She placed the carrier on the dining room table. Noah stared up at her half asleep. Haley was thankful he wasn’t one of the kids who hated his car seats. She left him for a moment to get the rest of the groceries from her car.

When she got back in the kitchen, there was still no Chibs to be found. She started putting the groceries away. Once everything was tucked in its place, she stood in the kitchen, not sure what she should do.

“Chibs?” she said, finally deciding to walk down the hall towards his bedroom. She stopped in the doorway. Looking into the mirror over his dresser, she had a clear view into the master bath, where Chibs was stepping out of the shower, drying off.

Haley let out a noise that was an embarrassing mix of a gasp of a surprise and a groan. Chibs looked up, startled at first, then smiled wolfishly.

“See something you like?”

Haley couldn’t see anything below his chest but his words caused her to blush anyway. She looked away as he wrapped the towel around his waist.

When he stepped out of the bathroom he walked over a placed a quick kiss on her head before walking over to the dresser.

“Who’s Kerrianne?” she asked. The name was tattooed to his chest and she wondered what the woman had done to earn a place so close to his heart.

“My daughter,” he said, pulling out clothes from the various drawers.

“I wasn’t expecting you to be—” she said breaking off as Noah gave a small cry from the kitchen.

“I had a headache. I’ll be out in a second, hen,” he said, nodding his head towards the kitchen.

“K,” she said, leaving him to check on Noah. He was already drifting back to sleep when she heard Chibs walking down the hall towards her.

“Thank God for car seats,” she said, turning to find him still shirtless. “He sleeps anytime he’s in one.”

Chibs smiled at the baby, leaning down to give him a quick kiss on the head.

“I got everything you asked for except the beer,” she said, finding it hard to concentrate on anything but the tattoos on his chest.

“Thanks,” Chibs said, opening the fridge and taking out two beers. Haley shook her head when he offered her one. He picked up a small ceramic box from the counter and headed towards the sliding back door.

“You had a headache?”

“Get ‘em sometimes,” he said as slid the door open. It led to a small patio. He motioned for Haley to follow him out before taking a seat in a wooden deck chair. Haley followed suit, leaving the door open to hear if Noah woke up.

“I talked Luanne into you cleaning up CaraCara,” he said.

Haley looked at him in what she knew must be disgust because he gave her a sharp look that she’d only seen him give to Ima.

“You’ll do it,” he said, not giving her a chance to protest. “Every weeknight but Wednesday. Come by around 5 pm. You can bring the lad. Tara had an old pack and play I put in Luanne’s office.”

“Why not Wednesdays?” Haley asked, thinking it over.

“You’ll still do the houses then, pick up my groceries,” he said. “Filming usually goes late on Wednesdays anyway. Need you to bartend on Friday night as well.”

“I don’t have a sitter--“ she started.

“Ask your cousin,” he said shortly.

“She’s not going to do it,” Haley said. Sarah hadn’t been taking any of her calls.

“I’ll talk to her.” He opened the small box he’d picked up from the counter and took out some rolling papers and a grinder. Haley watched as he set about rolling a joint. He was methodical, she noticed. She watched as he twisted the end tightly, then lit, taking a deep inhale.

He held the joint out to her. She’d still never smoked. The one she’d stolen from Bobby’s house was on the dresser in her apartment.

She shook her head. “I don’t know how.”

He let out a loud laugh at that. Haley found that she didn’t mind. It was a kind laugh.

“Come ‘ere,” he said. She shook her head.

“I gotta drive home.”

“Aye,” he said, remembering. “You should get home. Tomorrow at 5. I’ll get Lyla to meet you.”

***

When Haley arrived at CaraCara the next day, it wasn’t Lyla waiting but Sarah. Her cousin didn’t say anything to her, just stomped off down the hall towards the office where Haley’d interviewed with Luanne. Awkwardly, Haley followed her cousin.

‘So much for hoping she’d forgiven me,’ she thought.

The pack n' play was set up in the corner of the office. Haley sat down Noah’s carrier and got to work getting him settled. He’d had an early dinner and she was pretty sure that he’d go to sleep pretty quickly but she wanted to make sure he was comfortable.

“What are you doing?” Sarah asked.

Haley looked around at her cousin, confused. What did it look like she was doing?

“I’m getting him set up in here so I can cle—“ Sarah didn’t let her finish.

“I meant what are you doing with Chibs? All of a sudden the goodie goodie student body president is in with SAMCRO?”

Haley didn’t bother answering. She picked up Noah and lifted him into pack and play. She handed him his favorite stuffed animal, a blue Narwhal she’d found at Goodwill a few months ago.

Haley stood and turned to her cousin. Sarah, she knew was everything she was not. Tan, blonde, tall, traditionally pretty. When Haley’s mother heard her cousin had chosen to go into porn instead of going to college or finding a “real” job, she’d uninvited Sarah and her mother from Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas, everything. The mere mention of Sarah and Haley’s mother’s eyes would go pointed, laser-like. If they could have shot bullets, they would have. Until this moment, Haley had never seen any resemblance between her own mother and Sarah, but now the resemblance was unmistakable.

“Where are the cleaning supplies?” Haley asked, hoping to move on from this.

“He’ll never—“ Sarah started.

“I don’t want anything from Chibs. I don’t know anything about SAMCRO. I just clean. So where can I get the cleaning supplies?”

“Down the hall, third door to the right,” a voice said from behind Sarah. Both girls jumped and looked at the door. Lyla was standing there, leaning against the doorframe.

“Anything else I can help with?” the older woman asked in a super sweet voice that clearly said ‘Do not fuck with me.’ Haley was impressed, she didn’t know the woman had it in her. Even Sarah looked awkward.

“Sarah your shift is over. You should go home,” Lyla said, taking a step into the office. “I’ll take it from here.”

Haley watched as Sarah practically stomped her high heeled shoe and walked off. Looking back at Lyla, the blonde had an eyebrow raised in question.

“I don’t know. She’d been pissed since I puked on her,” Haley said. She wasn’t going to bring up what she’d said about Chibs.

“I’m sorry. I asked her to wait for you. I was running late from picking Pipper up from her Dad's. I didn’t realize there was… tension between you.”

Haley shrugged. Tension was one way to describe it. Lyla seemed to sense that she wasn’t going to get more out of Haley on the subject and motioned towards the hall.

“I’ll show you where the supplies are…”

Quickly and efficiently, Lyla showed Haley around. There was more to the building than Haley realized. One large set and three smaller sets took up at least half the warehouse space while another quarter was taken up by 12 small “cam” rooms which turned out to be small rooms the size of a large walking closet with beds and camera equipment.

“You only have to worry about cleaning the day shift rooms,” Lyla said, pointing to the six empty rooms. “We still have girls working in the others. They’ll get cleaned in the morning.”

They walked into a large communal dressing room where Lyla pointed out some other things.

“Used toys go here. These will need to be run in the dishwasher.”

Haley tried not to gag. They were back at the office. She’d been right. Noah was already asleep.

“Look, I don’t know if I should be offering this with everything that’s happening with Sarah but I asked Chibs earlier and he said I could ask you,” Lyla said. “We need a girl for a test shoot—“

Haley started to open her mouth but Lyla was quick to cut her off.

“It’s just a test shoot. The only people who would ever see it would be me, Luanne… and Chibs. We’d delete the original as soon as we made decisions on whether to move forward with the project. You wouldn’t have to be completely nak—“

“No,” Haley said firmly. She was disappointed. Hadn’t Lyla told her just a few weeks ago that it was okay that Haley didn’t want to porn? Why was she pushing this?

“We’re going to do a test shoot whether it’s you or not. One of our competitors is doing these spanking videos. All the girls are willing to do them—“

“So why do you need me?” Haley said hotly.

“Luanne and I want Chibs to do it. He’s got the ruggedly handsome look to him. But he’s not too handsome to distract. It’s just a fifteen to twenty minutes letting Chibs spank you. You can decide if you want to do it bare bottom or not. We’d give you six hundred. No penetration.”

“Why me?” Haley asked again.

“I thought it could be enjoyable for both of you. But if you want one of the other girls to do it… I can ask them.”

“I’ve got cleaning to do,” Haley said. Lyla smiled and nodded. Haley tried to smile back but she was finding it hard to like the other woman at the moment.

“I’ll let you think about it,” Lyla called as Haley walked past.

Don’t bother, Haley thought to herself. It was going to be a long night.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A spanking and a break in. Oh my!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Didn't create SONS. Don't own it. Still find it odd that Disney, of all companies, now does...

Chibs sat on the couch in the clubhouse holding an ice pack to his hand and watching as Chanel and Ima took turns on the pole. His brother's wolf-whistled as Chanel finally took off her top and jiggled her fake breasts at those standing in front of the stage. He tried to hide his cringe by taking a long pull on his beer.

“Need another one?” Sarah asked. She’d taken a seat next to him about half an hour ago and surprisingly, hadn’t said much to him. This was fine with Chibs; he wasn’t in the mood for talking. He was pissed. He thought the only thing that was going to go wrong this week was breaking his fucking finger when Quinn dropped a whole crate of M4s on his hand but then Jacob Hale had finally got what he wanted. Mayor of Charming. He nodded and handed her the empty bottle. 

“Take this too, love,” he said, handing her the bag of melted ice he was using to keep the swelling in his finger down. “What happened to you watching Noah?” he asked just before she turned away.

“She must have found another sitter,” Sarah shrugged. 

“Aye,” Chibs said. He watched as the girl turned away and approached the bar. The two girls had to lean towards each other to hear over the music. He smiled at Haley when she looked over at him. She nodded, taking the empty and the bag of ice from her cousin. 

He watched as she disappeared from view for a second before she passed two bottles of Miller over the bar. Sarah turned to come back but Haley called her back. He watches as she grabs a glass and pours two fingers of whiskey before raising it at him and giving the glass to Sarah. He nodded in thanks.

“Haley said you’d want this too,” Sarah said handing him the glass and the beer, before sitting back down next to him, closer than before. 

“She’s right,” he said, gulping the whiskey in two swallows. Closing his eyes, he leans his head back against the back of the couch. After a moment he feels Sarah play with a strand of his hair. 

“Your hair is getting long,” she said when he opened his eyes.

“Aye,” he said, taking a sip of the beer and watching as she pushes it behind his ear. The blond girl smiled in what Chibs knows she thinks is a sweet smile. He thinks he might know what’s coming next. 

“Lyla said you’re gonna be on camera,” she said. 

Chips lifted his head and turned away to watch Ima. Sarah wasn’t the first of the CaraCara girls to mention it. Ashley, one of the new cam girls had practically taken her clothes off in the parking lot of the studio yesterday, much to Kozik’s pleasure. 

“Aye.”

“Camera shy?” she asks.

“You want to be spanked by an old man on camera, lass?”

“If it’s you? Fuck yeah,” the girl says, sitting up on her knees and pushing into his side. He feels her lips on his ear.

“Let me show how much I want you.”

When she started to lick the shell of his ear, he leaned his head away without pulling too far away for her to hear him over the noise.

“Do that again lass, ’n I’ll put you over my knee right here. I promise ya won’ enjoy it,” he growled. He jerks his head towards the door. “You’re done for the night.”

He rolls his eyes when she huffs like a fuckin child, stands up, and storms out of the clubhouse. Raising the Miller to his lips, he glances towards the bar and sees that Haley is staring. As soon as she sees him looking though, she looks down at the bar and wipes at the wood with a rag.

Just fecking great, he thinks. 

“Pissing off the talent, brother?” Kozik says, taking some of the space Sarah had vacated. 

“Aye,” Chibs said. “Luanne and Lyla are riding my last nerve with this on camera shite.” 

“I can’t believe you’re complaining about this brother. It’s the easiest pussy you’ll ever get, they’re getting paid for it,” Kozik laughed. 

“Tell ‘em you want to do it,” Chibs said.

“I tried yesterday,” Kozik admitted. “They want you, Mr. Porn King. Who’s the lucky girl anyhow?” 

Chibs didn’t answer. He knew Lyla had talked to Haley, but he hadn’t heard if the girl had made a decision yet. The back up was a stripper that Lyla knew. Chibs knew which he preferred but he was staying out of it. She had to make up her own mind. 

“You’re fucking whipped,” the other man laughed. “Enjoy that ass.”

I plan on it, Chibs thought, taking another sip of beer before standing. 

“I’m out,” he said. “Night.”

***

The Friday night party wasn’t much of a party if Haley was honest. Just a few brothers. Nothing like the party she’d bartended before. 

“Thank God,” she thought, remembering the pie filling. 

No, this night was even a little boring, until she saw Sarah take a seat next to Chibs. From her place on the couch, Sarah had made eye contact with Haley from across the room before inching closer to the biker. 

Haley wiped at the bar even though it was spotless. When she looked up, Lyla was standing at the bar. 

“What can I get you?” Haley asked. Lyla leaned across the bar. 

“An answer,” she said sweetly. Haley was not fooled. “And a Gin and tonic.” 

She started to measure out the gin the way Miles and Filthy Phil had shown her. There were very few actual drinks that she had to know how to make. As soon-to-be Old Lady’s favorite, this was one of them. She put the lime on the side of the glass.

“Sarah looks comfy,” Lyla started.

“Lyla,” Opie warned, appearing at the bar behind his fiancé. 

“Miller?” Haley asked. She was grateful for the distraction. She had handed over a beer when he nodded. 

“I’ll be outside,” Lyla winked. Haley nodded. She bet she would be. 

She looked back across the room at Chibs. Sarah had stood up and taken his beer from him. Haley watched from the corner of her eye as her cousin all but sauntered towards the bar. 

“Chibs wants another,” Sarah said when she was close enough for Haley to hear. Haley nodded and took the empty bottle from her cousin. 

“So what’s going with you and Chibs?” Haley asked, smiling in her best imitation of Lyla. 

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Sarah asked. Haley knew there was nothing going on between the two but she didn’t like the determined look on Sarah’s face. “We’re going to be shooting a scene together if you must know,” Sarah said. 

Haley nearly dropped the two Millers she’d pulled from the fridge below the bar. 

“What?” she asked. Was Sarah Lyla’s back up?

“We’re going to be filming a scene together,” Sarah said, confidently. “Looks like whatever hooks you thought you had didn’t stick, cuz. Sorry.” The look on her face said anything but. “Anyway, I’m supposed to see what you’re doing for Thanksgiving. Mom wanted me to invite you and Noah…”

Haley wasn’t listening. She looked over at Chibs who smiled softly at her from across the room. Was this his way of letting her down? Or giving her an out? 

“Are you coming?” Sarah asked.

“What?” Haley started, confused. 

“Thanksgiving? Are you coming?” Sarah said slowly as if Haley wouldn’t understand. 

“Sure…” Haley knew her mother must have other plans if her aunt was inviting her. 

“K,” Sarah said. Just as she turned back towards Chibs, Haley stopped her. 

“Here,” she said, quickly pouring two fingers of Jameson. “Take this to Chibs. He’s had a shit week.” 

Sarah looked reluctant but finally picked up the glass. Haley watched as she handed him the glass and couldn’t help but smile back at Chibs when he raised it to her. She turned away from the two after a couple of minutes. She didn’t think she could watch any more. She looked down at her phone. She told Gemma she’d pick up Noah before midnight. It was almost 11. In the weeks since she started cleaning for the club, Gemma had seemed to be coming around to liking Haley. At least as much as Gemma liked someone who wasn’t part of the club.

When she looked away from the screen again, she couldn’t help but glance over at Chibs and Sarah again. Only Sarah was storming out of the clubhouse and Chibs looked pissed. She looked away when he glanced over at the bar.

After a few more minutes he came over and placed the bottle on the bar. He pulled a few bills out of his wallet and handed them to her. 

“Night, love.”

“Night.”

She watched as he walked out, slapping the backs of his brothers as he went. Making her mind, she looked down at her phone and pulled up Lyla’s number. Quickly before she could take herself out of it she texted: I’ll do it. 

She didn’t have to wait long for a response. Tuesday 6 p.m. Wear leggings and something comfy on top.

***

Tuesday

CaraCara at night was actually pretty quiet. The white noise machines dotted the halls between the cam rooms gave the place a hum that Haley found comforting when she was cleaning. Tonight, in one of the cam room herself, it felt like a constant ringing in her ears.

Nervously, she watched Lyla set up the camera. She tried to listen as the older woman walked her through what she was doing. 

“So, I’m thinking the shot will just be from here down,” the woman motioned from her belly button down. “Chibs will be sitting where you are now. He’ll pull you in by the wrist, put you over his knee, lock your legs down—“

“What?” Haley asked, suddenly hearing Lyla over the humming. “Lock my legs down?”

“He’s going to put you in a hold,” Lyla said gently. “I’ll show you. Stand up.” The woman took a seat on the side of the mattress and took hold of Haley’s wrist.

It was embarrassingly how easy Haley found herself, ass up over Lyla’s left knee, her legs locked under the other woman’s right. The other woman gently, yet firmly took each of Haley’s arms and held them behind her back.

“From here the spanking is going to begin. I already walked him through it,” Lyla said, placing one of her hands on Haley’s right butt cheek. “He’s going to start closest to the camera and alternate, this will help prevent any bruising.” Haley felt Lyla’s hand move to her right cheek. “Back and forth,” Lyla was still talking. “I want you to make as much noise as you need to, don’t hold it in. I want to make sure the room is going to pick up the acoustics for this.”

SLAP.

Haley gasped and bucked against Lyla’s thighs in surprise. Haley was grateful her face was hidden as knew it had to be the color of a fucking tomato. She couldn’t believe Lyla just spanked her.

“That’s what it's going to feel like at the beginning,” Lyla said softly. “But he is going to get rougher. If it gets to be too much you’re to use the safe words we discussed. Okay?” Haley nodded. “Don’t be afraid to squirm a bit too,” Lyla said as an afterthought. “It looks good on camera.”

“Isn’ this a beautiful sight,” a voice said from the doorway. Haley could just barely see Chibs when she looked over her shoulder. 

“You wish,” Lyla said lightly, helping Haley up. “I’ll let you guys warm up.”

Haley couldn’t bring herself to look at him when she noticed he had a bottle of scotch and two glasses in his hand. She watched as he set the glasses down on a table near the door before holding up the liquor in one hand and a joint in the other. 

“Pick ‘er poison,” he joked. He didn’t bother waiting for her to answer before he poured a finger of liquor in each glass. He held one of them out to her and she took it gratefully. 

“Thanks,” she murmured. She tried to sip the alcohol but found herself blanching and coughing at the taste. This made her feel worse. 

“C’mere lass,” he said, taking a seat at the end of the bed and pulling her onto his lap. He held the join up to his lips and lit it, taking a hit and then trying to hand it off. She shook her head. 

“I don’t know how. Remember?”

His chuckle seemed to vibrate through her.

“Aye, I remember. But I need you relaxed or I’m not going to be able to do this,” he said. He took another hit and held it. He slowly brought his hand to the back of her hand and pushed her head forward, towards his. She froze knowing he wanted to shotgun the hit into her mouth but unsure if she could handle being so close to him.

She closed her eyes and nodded her head. Gently, he placed his mouth over hers and blew in the smoke. It tickles, she thought, his beard lightly scratching at her face. When he pulled away, she tried not to cough it back in his face but her eyes watered with the effort. She moved her head away and let out the smoke. 

“Again,” he said. “When I blow it in, I want you to take a slow breath in, okay?”

She nodded, looking up into his eyes for the first time since he came into the room. She was surprised to find his iris’ s dilated and the look he was giving her felt like she was naked despite having all her clothes on. He threaded the hand not holding joint into her hair and tugged on it slightly. 

“Ready,” she said softly. He smiled and took a deep inhale off the joint. This time, she moved towards him without him having to guide her. He placed his mouth over hers and exhaled slowly. This time she realized, she’d done the right thing. There was a slight burning in her chest as she inhaled but it wasn’t too bad. She still coughed when it was time to exhale but she found that Chibs was looking down at her with what she knew was pride. She couldn’t help the giggle that escaped. Before she thought about it too much she leaned in to kiss him when the door opened.

“Oh, sorry,” she said. She didn’t sound sorry. “But we really ought to be getting going.”

“O’ course,” Chibs said. Together they stood and got to the places Lyla had marked. After a few minutes of going over the blocking with them both in the room. 

“Have you decided whether he can pull your pants down?”

Haley looked up at Chibs. He was waiting patiently for the answer. She nodded. 

“Underwear too?” Lyla asked. Haley only hesitated for a second before nodding again. 

The few minutes after Lyla called action were a blur. Chibs was stronger than Lyla and Haley found that when she went over his knee she lost her breath and gasped but they didn’t stop the scene. 

SLAP.

Haley couldn’t help the cry that escaped on the first hit. Or the second. Or third. She tried to keep count, but it was hard to keep track. She was sure they were passed ten swats when from the corner of her eye, she saw Lyla moving the camera. Before she could figure out what was happening, Chibs had forced her to her feet and shoved her leggings and panties to her knees. He put his hand up and forced her to look him in the eye.

“You ok, love?” he asked. She’d barely nodded when she was facing the mattress again. 

***

Chibs could see her cheeks were red from the first go-round. 

“We’re going to go a little harder now ok, Haley? I want Chibs to get a comfortable rhythm going this time. Instead of just swats. Chibs, I want you to cup your hand like this,” Lyla said.

He rolled his eyes at Lyla. He knew how to smack a woman’s ass and she knew it. 

He hit a flat hand hard against both cheeks at once. Then he swatted one cheek, then the next. Smack. He loved how both cheeks jiggled. Smack, smack, smack, smack. 

“Fuck,” the girl moaned. The noise went straight to his dick. He rubbed both cheeks roughly and watched as they moved before starting again. To his surprise, the moaning continued. He felt the girl start to grind into his dick. Chibs had a feeling that she had no idea what she was doing. 

It’d been almost ten minutes of straight spanking when the grinding stopped. The tension, she’d been holding in her body the whole time seemed to melt and her body felt like a dead weight. Chibs stopped. 

“Haley,” he said, slightly panicked. He pulled the girl up, so she was sitting against his chest and checked her pulse. Immediately he found it and released a sigh of relief. It was a little fast but strong. Nothing abnormal. Lyla had set the camera down and come around to bend down in front of Haley. 

“Haley, sweetie are you ok?” Lyla asked, brushing the hair out of Haley’s face. The sound that came out of Haley’s mouth weren’t quite words but she didn’t seem to be in pain. “I think she’s just overloaded,” Lyla said, surprised. “I wasn’t expecting her to take to it so quickly. Here, let's lay her down.”

Chibs picked her up and stood quickly placing her head-on the pillows that Lyla arranged. Gently, he pulled her panties and her leggings back up. 

“Haley,” he called, but her eyes seemed to look past him. Her pupils were blown. “Jaysus, love.” Lyla handed him a blanket. “She’ll probably be cold when she wakes up. I’ll be in the office.” 

Chibs took the blanket and covered her with it. He didn’t look away from her as Lyla left, watching her closely for signs she needed a doctor. He looked at his watch and kept a time of how long it took for her to come around. How the fuck was he supposed to explain this to Tara? breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her pupils begin to become normal again. After a moment, Haley blinked and a look of confusion was beginning to spread on her face. 

“Haley,” he said. “Can you hear me?”

“Hear you?” she asked. She looked around the room. She could remember starting filming and then nothing much else. “Did I pass out?”

“Aye, something like that,” he said. “Do you think you can sit up?” He had to help her but she managed to sit up. She couldn’t help but notice how business-like he'd become. The man she’d seen just before the shoot was gone. 

“Chibs?” 

“Hmm, love?” he said, finally looking her in the eye. She leaned in and kissed him. It was a soft kiss, a sloppy kiss. But Haley felt drunk from the alcohol and the weed and the smell of Chibs. It seemed like an eternity until he began to respond to her kiss. It was hard and bruising. Haley wondered how long she had been out. She pulled away.

“Chibs?” She felt him laugh and pouted. She knew he’d finally realized she was high. “Take me home.” 

“Aye, love?” he said softly, as she leaned forward and fell asleep on his shoulder. “I’ll take you home.”

***

It was hours later, that Chibs drove her car to pick up Noah, and one of the prospects had followed with the club van. Haley had tried to convince him to come upstairs but he’d refused. 

“We’ll talk tomorrow,” he said softly, kissing her on the head. He waited until she’d got her front door opened and waved him off. It wasn’t until she was inside the apartment that she switched on the light. She almost dropped Noah’s carrier in shock. What had been her apartment lay in literal pieces on the floor. The cabinets that had been on the wall in the kitchenette had been pulled from the wall, leaving a gaping hole in the drywall. What little furniture she’d had when she left the apartment looked like, someone had chopped it into little matchsticks, thrown them up into the air, and lay where they landed on the floor. The second-hand crib she’d bought was completely useless. 

Worse were the words, spray-painted in red, on the wall: RAT.


End file.
